The Darklight Experiment
by squirreldemon
Summary: Three years after the defeat of Malomyotismon Baihumon experiments with a new team of digidestined in an attempt to prove himself better than Azulongmon. A story of five antiheroes and the struggle to overcome their differences in order to save the world.
1. To Be Superior

The Darklight Experiment

Chapter 1: To Be Superior

He was pacing again. It seemed to Benjamin that that was all Lord Baihumon had done for the past three years. Lord Baihumon was never happy these days, purely because Azulongmon's 'Digidestined' plan had put him in the dragon's shadow. And if there was one thing that Lord Baihumon hated it was being overshadowed. "You called milord?" Benjamin inquired as he entered the great tiger's chambers.

The massive tiger turned to regard Benjamin. "I have a job for you." he told Benjamin. "I've figured out how to rise above Azulongmon."

"What is your plan milord?" Benjamin questioned knowing that whatever it was he was the one who was going to have to do all of the legwork.

"I'm going to get my own team of Digidestined." Benjamin said nothing; he was waiting for the rest of the plan. "I have planned out an experiment. You will of course recall that Azulongmon's Digidestined often had difficulties because they ran into moral dilemmas." Benjamin nodded. "I have decided to test a group of Digidestined that won't suffer from such, problems."

"How did you plan on avoiding them?" Benjamin asked he certainly didn't want to wind up working with a bunch of criminals.

"Darklights." Baihumon told him, "Antiheroes." a file appeared in Benjamin's hands. "They'll fight with all there might to save this world, but they won't be afraid to do what's necessary to reach their goal."

"Milord," Benjamin said looking through the file, "I must admit that these subjects give me some misgivings. A gangster, a son of illegal immigrants, the daughter of one of the richest families in the world, a petty hacker, and a vigilante who writes song lyrics." he read off from the file. "They don't seem very compatible."

"Read deeper." Baihumon told him. "They all show an ability to perform well under stress and," he smiled, "they all boast semi-developed psychic ability."

"What do you need me to do?" Benjamin asked.

"Wall off an area." Baihumon commanded, "Then let Machinedramon loose in there. Once he is set up insert the crests of Respect, Responsibility, Defiance, Confidence, and Luck. Then summon the Digidestined." He stopped for a moment as if her were thinking something over. "Drop them right into the middle of it." he added.

"Yes milord." Benjamin said with a bow.


	2. The Gangster

Chapter 2: The Gangster

Lucas was awakened by a kick to the side. "What the hell?" he mumbled as he opened his eyes. His eyes fixed on the person who had kicked him. "How the hell did you get in here Isaac?" he asked, "And why are you in my room anyway."

"We have stuff to do, remember?" Isaac said ignoring the first question.

Lucas glanced over at the clock; it was 5 in the morning. "What could we possibly have to do at five in the morning?" Lucas asked.

Isaac rolled his eyes, "You, me, and Alejandro volunteered to go rough up some of them spicks across town." he reminded Lucas.

Lucas pushed himself off the floor and to his feet; he usually didn't sleep in his bed, it was an old piece of junk that kept him awake all night. "I'll be out in five minutes." he told Isaac, "So get out of here."

Isaac tossed Lucas a set of keys. "You're driving." Isaac said, "And remember to close your window at night next time." he added as he climbed out onto the fire escape.

"Bastard." Lucas said to himself, "He wouldn't be so hot on talking like that if Ale was in here."

"Would you have said anything differently were you in his spot?" Lucas' partner, a Lopmon, asked from across the room.

"I'm not afraid to say it to his face." Lucas retorted Lopmon merely shrugged. "And hop in my backpack too, I have a feeling I'll need your help today." Lucas told him.

Isaac had given him five minutes, Lucas took his time. Ten minutes later he slipped out the window Isaac had used. There was a rusty old Toyota parked on the corner, Lucas' two compatriots Isaac and Alejandro 'Ale' Lopez were waiting in it. "What took you?" Isaac growled.

"Assholes climbing into my room." Lucas told him while starting the car and pulling out.

"I wouldn't have come in if you would wake up on time," Isaac told him from the passengers seat, "and don't drive with that bag on your lap." Lucas gave him a glare and put his backpack in the back.

Lucas pulled the car over a block away from where they were going, and got out. "You're not seriously going into a fight with that on your back?" Ale asked when he saw Lucas grab his bag.

"Why would I make an exception this time?" Lucas asked. Ale rolled his eyes.

"Are you to coming or not?" Isaac asked from down the street.

Lucas gave him the finger as he and Ale moved up to join Isaac. Isaac stopped them at a corner. "They're in there." he said pointing to an open window halfway up the fire escape. "From the looks of it they're obviously as stupid as Lucas." he noted.

"How many of them are in there?" Ale asked.

"There was a party last night," Isaac explained, "probably about six or seven all hungover and asleep." He climbed onto the fire escape, "C'mon time to wake 'em up."

Lucas felt something prickle at the back of his neck. "Isaac something doesn't seem right about this." he said. "I think they're trying to pull something."

Isaac rolled his eyes and sighed, "Fine, I'll go up and make sure everything's in order." Despite his outward appearance Isaac had learned to trust Lucas' instincts, and never to dismiss them out of hand.

The room was on the fifth floor, and Isaac climbed the escape swiftly and silently. The prickly feeling wouldn't leave Lucas alone, he felt as if there were a number of people with their eyes on him. He slipped his hand into his pocket and gripped his switchblade for reassurance. Just as Isaac was about to stick his head in the window Lucas yelled out for him to get out of there, but he was too late. Someone from inside gave Isaac a good solid kick and Isaac stumbled back and over the railing. He didn't make it.

Lucas whipped his switchblade out and opened it; Ale was only a second behind. Even so they barely made it, the shadows in the alley were alive; it was an ambush. Lucas spun as someone jumped at him and caught the man in the gut. Ale was less lucky; he sliced a man across the face before a pair of guys grabbed him from behind immobilizing his arms, though he still thrashed about. The last Lucas saw of him he was being piled on by five spicks.

Lucas ducked under a punch and whipped his blade across the man's neck. He then spun, almost ballet like, and stabbed another through the eye. He kicked out and caught some spick in the head, it was impossible to miss they were all coming after him.

There was a loud crack and Lucas felt a sharp pain tear through his right arm, it was so sudden he nearly dropped his knife. Someone had brought a gun.

"Tiny twister!" Lopmon wasn't a moment too late, his attack sending those spicks around Lucas and the rabbit digimon flying. Lucas grabbed him by the ear and took off as a second shot whizzed by his head. He ran down the sidewalk towards the car, adrenaline giving him speed and strength. A bullet hit the sidewalk next to him and Lucas dove into an alley dragging Lopmon with him.

Then everything went dark.


	3. The Mexican

Chapter 3: The Mexican

The guys in red referred to him as the Mexican, but Carlos Viernes was more than that. As of about five seconds ago he had become the Mexican that had scored on them. And that didn't sit well with them.

Carlos could care less though. He was here to play soccer. It took a special breed to play soccer now, an intense soccer obsessed breed. It was five in the morning.

Carlos loved soccer. In his opinion it was the only sport worth playing. He was good at it too, damn good at it. It was, in his opinion, only a matter of time before he made the big leagues. Until then however, he was stuck playing games at five in the morning against a bunch of assholes to prove that he was a real soccer player.

Carlos's foot snuck out and stole the ball away from one of the guys in red. He moved back up the field dodging easily around the other players. It was as if he had an innate ability to see which way they were going to move, little voices in his head telling him the opposition's moves.

Carlos had never been on a school team. His family didn't have the money for a uniform or other paraphernalia. Both his mother and father were illegal aliens, with all that that entailed. The 'Five AM' league as it was known, however, didn't require any sort of uniform; it was really just a bunch of people from local neighborhoods that got together to play soccer.

Most actual teams looked down on the people in the Five AM league, seeing them as people without any real drive or skill. They never played against each other. The guys in red had dominated the leagues for three years now. They were an active part of the Five AM league, and undefeated for three years.

Carlos kicked the ball, another goal. Now the guys in red were mad. The game had only just begun and they were down by two. Carlos couldn't help but do a little dance and flash a smile at the guys in red's captain's sister on the sidelines. With a little luck he'd be doing some scoring of another kind later.

It came in from the side, a ball kicked so fast he barely had time to get his head out of the way. On the sidelines, hidden by a set of bleachers, Carlos caught sight of his partner Mushroomon balling his hand into a fist. Carlos shot him a disapproving glance. He was going to win this on his terms, no matter what they threw, or rather kicked, at him.

Carlos sped down towards his end of the field after the ball that had nearly taken his head off. In a move he was sure he'd never be able to duplicate or truly explain he leapt over the red guys head and landed kicking the ball between his legs. Carlos followed the ball through a moment later and rolled using his head to steal the ball away from a second guy in red. He came out of his roll running, the ball at his feet. Carlos surged up the field dodging neatly around everyone who got in his way and damn near everyone tried to. He was at the goal almost before he knew he had the ball, the goalie was likewise behind the events. Carlos' shot entered the goal unopposed.

Carlos had a smug grin on his face as he jogged back to his side. He was just giving the girl a quick wave when he heard a voice ring through his head as loudly and clearly as if someone had yelled it right in his ear. "I'M GOING TO TAKE THAT BASTARD'S HEAD OFF!"

Carlos dropped, but even with the forewarning he was barely fast enough to get out of the way in time. He felt the ball push a number of hairs on his head out of place as it went by. Whoever had kicked it, the captain he guessed, might well have taken his head off had it connected. Carlos hit the ground and was already ready to leap back up and let Mushroomon do whatever he felt was necessary to kid.

Then everything went dark.


	4. The Rich Girl

Chapter 4: The Rich Girl

The house was large, roomy, and gloomy. The house was always large, roomy, and gloomy. Most people would wonder why someone would buy a house like that, but the answer was simple. The Drakes had it because their ancestors had had it, and their ancestors had bought it because it was big and expensive.

Today, however, not even the gloominess of the house could dampen the high spirits of fourteen year old Melissa. Her partner Demidevimon shook himself as she entered her room waking him up. "You do realize he's faking it don't you?" the blue demonic puff ball asked.

Melissa looked over at him and scowled her eyes hidden by her hair. "Don't ruin my mood Demi." she warned. "I know full well that he's just pretending he likes me," she told him, "it's just nice to have someone, even if they are faking it."

Demi flapped up onto her bed post, "You're weird." he told her.

Melissa rolled her eyes, "Don't start." she told him. "I'm going to go hang out with Mark. Are you tagging along?"

Demi looked down at her, "Are you stupid?" he asked. "It's seven in the morning, you're fourteen, and you're going to see a boyfriend who's just using you. Why bother asking?"

"Because it's polite." Melissa said while opening her backpack up. "Now get in."

"Don't close it all the way." Demi commanded, "I don't want to suffocate." Melissa nodded and left the pack open a bit at the top.

It was a five minute walk from Melissa's room to the front door. Five long minutes during which she saw no one but a pair of maids she didn't feel like noticing. She had just reached the door when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Going somewhere Miss Melissa?" Wilkins, the family butler, asked.

Melissa smiled up at him. "I'm going over to Mark's ok? I'll be back by lunch time." Melissa caught the small twitch in Wilkins' eye when she said Mark, but Wilkins was a good enough butler not to say anything. It was just as well, Melissa didn't feel like getting into that argument again today.

"Then I suppose you'll be needing this." Wilkins said taking her cell phone out of his pocket. Melissa blushed and took it; she was forever losing her phone.

Melissa gave Wilkins a big hug and then turned around and opened the door. The butler was like a father to her. "Be back by ten." Wilkins called after her as she was walking down the pathway. "Ten." he repeated as Melissa opened her mouth to argue. That was one of the downsides of having the butler as your father figure.

Of course just because Wilkins said to be home by ten didn't mean she had to be back by ten. She could technically stay out as long as she felt like, but she didn't want to disappoint Wilkins.

She stepped out of the gates and found Mark waiting for her; that alone was creepy. "Hi." she said cheerfully, not letting it darken her mood.

"Hello beautiful." he said running a hand down her cheek. Melissa shivered involuntarily. So what if he was handsome, popular, and apparently head over heels for her; Mark was still creepy sometimes.

"So how about we go out and do something?" he asked. Just as Demi had said and she had known, he was mooching off her. At least he was being polite about it though, Melissa could feel Demi huffing around in her bag as if he could tell what she was thinking.

"I'd love to." she told Mark with a genuine smile on her face. So what if he wanted the money and popularity boost going out with her invariably brought along with it? It was still good to have someone.

With a giggle Melissa skipped out in front of Mark and spun to face him giving her a bright smile. Then her foot caught in a chink on the pavement and she stumbled, falling. Mark was running towards her in an attempt to catch her, but she knew he would be a moment too late.

Then everything went dark.

Amazing, I've finally managed to find the time to finish this chapter. To those of you who have been eagerly awaiting this chapter I'm very sorry it's taken this long, but I've had a full plate. I'd share it all with you, but that would ruin all the surprises. Suffice it to say that I've got some really cool/weird stuff that I'm almost done with.


	5. The Pervert

Chapter 5: The Pervert

Richard's room had three windows. One looked out into the small yard on the house's east. The second looked out onto the street in front of the house. Last but not least the third was the skylight he had begged his parents to install back when he was eight.

Of the three he found the first one to be the most useless; it merely looked out on the yard and allowed the sun to shine straight into his eyes in the morning nothing useful at all. The most useful was of course the north facing front window; it gave him a good view of the street and the seemingly disproportionate amount of hot girls that walked by. His favorite was, of course, the skylight; with a slight bit of effort he could climb out and see all around the house for a decent distance and at night he could look up at what few stars were visible over the city lights.

There was also, in a more philosophical than literal sense, a fourth window which Richard was now sitting in front of. This was his computer, the window to far away worlds. It was the window that he was currently typing frantically away at in an attempt to open, the window to a new load of porn for his viewing pleasure.

Now there were a number of things that Richard liked, and a much larger list of those that he didn't. For simple reference purposes the easiest way to differentiate between the two would be those that were enjoyable, and those that weren't. Topping off the list of good things was sex. Despite the fact that the one time he had had it he was too drunk to actually remember most of the act, such as whom it was with, he did remember that it felt damn good. Closely following sex were foreplay (some of which he also couldn't really remember), masturbation, and general appreciation of a girl's body.

Due however to the fact that he was a weird little hacker/petty thief he was many times stuck with only the third and fourth to occupy his time. There's just something about someone who spooks everyone that isn't conducive to close relationships.

"There's a looker going by." Betamon, Richard's partner, said suddenly. Richard's eyes moved from the monitor to the window in an instant fixing on the girl; definitely a looker, Betamon knew his stuff.

"Now there's a definite 10 out of 10." Richard said tipping his chair back so he could keep his eyes on her. "What I wouldn't give to fuck that piece." he commented pushing back even farther. In school they always tell you not to tip your chair back for a reason. That reason became apparent when Richard realized he had pushed back to far and lost his balance, falling towards the ground, eyes still on the girl.

And then everything went dark.


	6. The Prophet

Chapter 6: The Prophet

There were probably people somewhere who figured it was normal, or even fun, to be up at eight AM on a Saturday. Jack Collins was not one of them. There were probably also people who figured it was perfectly normal to get up at seven AM on a Saturday to scribble crazy disjointed dreams into a large leather bound book for an hour. Jack wasn't one of them, and yet he found himself doing just that far too often for his liking.

Jack's dreams weren't always just dreams. Sure he had the same crazy purple monkey running on the ceiling during a math test dreams as everyone else, but he also had a good number of dreams that had come true. He had started writing them down a year ago when he had had a dream about his friend's father shooting the friend's stepfather and stepbrother.

Needless to say Jack's quick glance over the paper in the morning two days later was rather disturbing. He was used to the fact that he had dreams that came true, and he was used to dreaming of bad things happening, but he wasn't used to people dying.

Stan Lee had once said that 'with great power comes great responsibility' and in that vein he had begun to keep track of all of his prophecies so that he could prevent something like that from happening again. It was rough going at first but with a little practice he found he could usually tell the difference, usually by clarity of the memory. He currently had five full books in his bookcase and was halfway through his sixth already.

Jack was pulled away from his task by an insistent bouncing on his head. "What's up Bonemon?" he asked the skull like digimon. Some people might find it odd or morbid for someone to have a skeleton in their room; others might believe that the person was a big Shakespeare fan. For Jack it had long become a fact of life, as had the fact that the skull moved and talked.

"You promised we'd go on a hike today." Skullmon reminded Jack energetically.

"But it rained last night," Jack whined, "and you know how the swamp gets when it rains."

"You promised." Skullmon insisted, Jack didn't have to look up to know the hurt expression that was probably on his partner's face.

"Fine," Jack conceded, "just let me get a shirt on first." He climbed to his feet and put his pen and book onto the bed.

Going hiking was a very relative term. In this instance it referred to wandering through Jack's own backyard as well as the yards of a number of his neighbors who were either too obtuse or too far away to notice, or who just didn't care.

These backyards were all alike in one way; they all contained a part of a rather nice sized swamp. This gave you moss, rotting trees, pools of stagnant water, and bugs. Or after the night before wet moss, wet rotting trees, wet pools of stagnant water, and remarkably dry bugs. None of which seemed to bother Skullmon in the least.

Jack on the other hand found them all rather annoying. Wet moss was slippery, wet rotting tress were slippery and broke, wet stagnant water was deeper and filthy, and bugs well they're bugs. And it was still only eight in the morning.

"Yo Skullmon, slow down a bit," Jack called ahead to the aforementioned digimon, "I can't bounce." Skullmon slowed down a touch, but Jack sped up in an effort to catch up. Then one of the rotting trees he was walking across broke and he fell.

And then everything went dark.

I'd like to thank anybody who's stuck with this story through these first six chapters, they may have been boring to read (and write), but they're necessary for the plot. Luckily however we're going to start getting into the real story next chapter which means, among other things, a return to my usual 1500+ word chapters, which for some reason feels like such a relief to me. Look for chapter seven by Wednesdayish.


	7. Awaken

Chapter 7: Awaken

Lucas woke up sneezing. There was something wrong, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it. A second later it occurred to him that he was in a field of tall grass and wildflowers with one of Lopmon's ears rubbing across his upper lip with each breath the still out of it digimon took. Lucas gave him a quick shake that roused the rabbit digimon immediately as he took stock of their surroundings.

It was a large field full of plants he hadn't seen before. Off in the distance he could see the familiar skyline of a city, but it wasn't one he recognized. His backpack was gone lost to somewhere he couldn't care less about, oddly enough though he still had all of his clothes, and his switchblade.

"Hey Lucas," Lopmon asked tugging on his partner's arm, "what happened to your clothes?"

Lucas was about to reply that there was nothing different about them when he noticed that there was: all of the rips and tears that had been on them earlier were gone without a trace. He carefully looked over the arm of his long coat for the bullet hole from earlier, but it was gone along with any sort of bloodstain. His eyes narrowed as he pulled his sleeve up; there was no trace of the bullet wound in his arm either. "What the fuck is going on here?" he muttered to himself as he looked out over the field, his head just high enough so that his eyes cleared the grass.

He heard a brush of grass and the sound of footsteps and reacted instinctively. His foot lashed out behind him with trained precision. The target, some Mexican by the looks of it, nearly avoided the blow but Lucas' foot caught him in the gut and forced him to the ground. Lucas was on him in an instant, his switchblade already unfolded as he heard Lopmon slam into something much bigger than himself.

"Dude, Dude hold up, I was just playing a game of soccer and then I was lying in this field." the Mexican babbled at him quickly.

Lucas pulled off the guy; there was no way anyone could make up something that stupid. Even so he didn't close his knife. "I'm Lucas, not Dude." he said. "Now who the hell are you?"

"Carlos Viernes," Carlos told Lucas, "from San Francisco, and that Mushroomon your rabbit digimon is sitting on is with me. You wouldn't happen to know where this place is would you?" Carlos asked.

"Somewhere in the Digital World." Lopmon said from over Lucas' shoulder and on top of Mushroomon's stomach.

Both Lucas and Carlos fixed their partners with a withering glare. "And you couldn't have told us this earlier?" Lucas asked at length.

"I thought you knew already." the rabbit digimon said with a shrug of his ears. Mushroomon nodded along from his prone position.

"You are a complete idiot Mushroomon." Carlos said exasperatedly as he let his head fall back to the ground.

"Get up Mexican; we need to find out what the hell happened to us." Lucas said prodding Carlos with his foot, none to gently either.

Melissa woke up feeling like she hadn't slept in days. She scrunched her eyes shut and rolled over onto her side. There was something warm nearby her and she wiggled towards it, her eyes still closed. She nuzzled her head into whatever it was, feeling what felt like worn leather on her face.

Whatever she was using as a pillow shifted a little and groaned. Then someone asked who she was. Melissa pushed away from them as fast as she could and sat up. It was some guy she didn't think she had seen before in a trench coat and sunglasses. "Who the hell are you?" she screamed at him.

"Who am I?" he yelled back. "Who are you and why are you in my yard?"

"The sidewalk isn't part of your yard."

"Sidewalk? We're in the middle of a fucking swamp!"

"No." Melissa shot back, "We're on a sidewalk in Chicago."

"Chicago's in Illinois you head case." he told her. "This is New York."

"Bullshit," Melissa said angrily, "I tripped and fell on the sidewalk down the street from my house."

"Yeah, sure." The guy said skeptically, "And then you landed in the swamp behind my house half a country away."

Melissa was about to fire back with a comment about how he should lay off the drugs and get his head out of his ass, but she was cut off by a voice heralded by the sound of wing beats. "Are you two done arguing yet?" Demi asked, "You sound like a married couple." Before either of them could say anything Demi spoke again, "And if you'd take a look around you'd notice that we're in neither a swamp nor a sidewalk."

The two humans followed the bat digimon's advice and took in their surroundings, finding themselves in a large field of tall grass and wildflowers with a three foot tall skeleton holding a bone only a few feet away. "So where are we?" the guy asked, "And when did you digivolve Bonemon?" he asked the skeleton.

"Somewhere in the Digital World Jack," Bonemon said, "I think. And I was already digivolved when I woke up."

Jack turned back to Melissa. "Hey you there, girl," Melissa glared at him, "I'm Jack."

"My name is Melissa." she told him. "I suggest you use it." Jack shrugged. Melissa shook her head at the gesture and then she made a weird face and began to spit vigorously.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked alarmed at her sudden change in behavior.

"There's something in my mouth." Melissa complained. She spat a few more times before sticking her tongue out and trying to pull whatever she was worrying about off her tongue. It was a diamond tongue stud.

"Quit yanking at that." Jack told her, "It's just your tongue piercing."

Melissa gave a derisive snort but put her tongue back in her mouth. "That's just it," she told him, speaking as if she was completely used to the piercing, "I don't have a tongue piercing.

Jack shrugged again, "And I don't own a trench coat, but I'm wearing one nonetheless."

"That's nowhere near the same!" Melissa said exasperatedly. "Someone stuck a coat on you, so what. They poked a damn hole in my mouth!"

"Will you two stop arguing?" Demi asked. "According to this thing there's something over there," Demi pointed to their east, he was holding Melissa's digivice, "and two more somethings further that way." he was now pointing northeast.

"Give me that back." Melissa demanded pouncing on Demi and prying her digivice from his grasp.

"Hey Melissa," Jack called, she looked over her shoulder at him, "are we going to go check out what those somethings are?" he asked.

"We?" Melissa asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Yes, we." Jack said, "I can't just leave you alone after someone 'poked a damn hole in your mouth' can I?"

Melissa stood up and walked straight up to Jack, so close that their noses were touching. A moment later she stepped back with a chuckle. "You want me so bad." she stated before walking off towards the east with Demi on her shoulder.

"Come on," Jack told Bonemon, who had watched most of the interactions between the other three with amusement, "let's go."


	8. Right Into The Middle of It

Chapter 8: Right Into The Middle of It

"Cog Crusher!"

Richard leapt backwards away from the trio of gear like digimon who seemed intent on smashing him to a pulp. It was an especially dangerous endeavor as the ground he was standing on seemed to become more and more metallic with each passing second. Even now the place he had awoken looked more like a piece of sheet steel than part of a field. Even the grass had changed, becoming long thin wire like pieces of metal. Prior experience, and a nice sized cut on his face, warned him not to stray too close to them.

"Fin Cutter!" Betamon's attack forced back one of the enemies, but the other two moved up around him. Richard dove in and grabbed Betamon holding his partner close as he rolled under the recently attacked digimon.

Richard forced himself up, his shoulder stinging from the impact. There was, he decided, no good way out of his present situation. It was three on one, Betamon was tired, and they had no idea what was going on. It was just like that time three years past when digimon were stampeding all around the city, except no hottie in her pajamas was going to jump in on a giant cactus to save him now.

"Betamon we're going to need a miracle." he whispered to the tired digimon, "I don't think we can outrun them, and we have no chance in a straight up fight."

A smartass reply from Betamon was cut short by the appearance of a meter tall skeleton wielding a bone and a blue furred bat with a syringe. As the two battered there way towards Richard and Betamon, Richard was focused on his rescuers: a man in a trench coat and sunglasses and a, very hot, girl in an over sized T-shirt and a pair of tight jeans. And Richard decided that if it was his destiny to be saved by hot girls he was fine with it.

The four rescuers managed to break through to Richard with relative ease. It soon became apparent that this ease was merely an illusion as another pair of the gear like digimon moved up to support the first three. "Who are these guys?" Richard growled, unsure whether he meant the enemies or his new found allies.

"Those are Hagurumon." the bat told him, "They're usually found operating computers and machinery in factories."

"Love this great computer or factory we're hanging out in right now." The sunglasses wearing man said sarcastically. The girl shot him a quick glare.

The Hagurumon were moving in on them, slowly spreading out to surround them and prevent any escape while at the same time forcing them all further and further back across the metal landscape. As one the Hagurumon charged in their cogs spinning in deadly circles.

"Cable Crusher!" A pair of long cables whipped down onto two of the Hagurumon followed by a large digimon reminiscent of both a bear and a rabbit as they exploding into small particles that were swept wistfully away on the breeze. The rest of the Hagurumon eyed the newcomer warily and began to back away, and another of their number faced the same fate as his cohorts under a combined assault from the skeleton, bat, and Betamon. The other two were swiftly ensnared by the cables and eliminated.

During this time they had also been joined by two men, one with white hair in a black trench coat and the other with brown hair and eyes in a soccer jersey and shorts, and a giant mushroom. "Who are you guys?" the man with white hair demanded.

"And just who are you?" The girl demanded getting right up in the white aired man's face. She jumped back a second later with a squeak as the man whipped out a switchblade. Both Richard and the man in sunglasses were in front of her almost instantly.

"Don't even think about…" The man in sunglasses began.

"… touching her." Richard finished. He gave the man in sunglasses a look, and felt him do the same from behind the glasses.

The air of confrontation between the two groups was so strong they failed to notice their approaching company. "Bodyguards for the little girl." A cruel voice said from behind them, "That's so sweet." They turned to see a small hunchbacked creature on a robot with a clock for a body, flanked by a pair of large robots, and backed by at least a score of Hagurumon.

The man with white hair turned towards them, an angry look on his face. It was obvious from their stance and manner that these new digimon were enemies. "Wendigomon." he said looking at the bear/rabbit digimon. Wendigomon nodded once before sending the cables flying at the clock rider.

The digimon seemed to smile as the attack began, and the hands on the clock began to spin out of control. "Chrono Breaker!" Wendigomon's attack slowed to nearly a stop in midair and the two flanking robots moved onto either of the bear/rabbit's sides faster than could have been possible. Then they each fired a beam from their chests that sent Wendigomon flying up into the air, and landed him as a smaller, much less bear like, digimon.

The white haired man scooped up the fallen digimon and then proceeded to implement the first plan that came to mind: run like hell. Richard and the others followed soon after. It didn't take long for the Mexican to reach the front of the line and begin leading them, straight into the metallic woods. From behind they could hear the sounds of the enemy digimon following after them.

Suddenly the girl stopped next to a tree, and gave it an odd look. "Hey, guys!" she called out, "Over here!" Then before all their eyes she leapt into the tree. The others followed a moment later.

The interior of the tree turned out to be completely hollow, as if it had purposely been made as a hide away sometime in the past, as some kind of hiding tree or the like. "So, how'd you know this place was here?" the white haired man asked from his seat across from the girl.

She shrugged embarrassedly, "I don't know," she admitted, "I just did." The white haired man made no move to reply.

The silence continued for a few minutes until the Mexican cleared his throat. "Well, seems something crazy's going on and we might be stuck together for a while so let's get to know each other okay?" no one said anything. "I'll start," he said, "my name's Carlos Viernes, I'm 15, from San Francisco, I like soccer, and my partner's Mushroomon."

A few moments of silence passed before the white haired made spoke up. "Lucas, 16, LA, Lopmon, part of a gang and not afraid to kill anyone who crosses me."

The girl spoke next, after taking a minute or so to recover from Lucas' terse reply. "Call me Melissa, I'm 14, from Chicago, Demi's my partner, and I have a boyfriend so keep your hands to yourself."

"I'm Richard Johansson," Richard said next, "I'm 14 too, from Yonkers, I like computers and girls, and my partner's Betamon."

That left only the guy in sunglasses to speak; he waited a few seconds before speaking. "I'm Jack Collins, also 14, I'm from a small unknown town about an hour North of Richard, and I like to hike and write poems and stuff."

The group lapsed back into silence for a few minutes more before Lucas got to his feet. "This is stupid," he told them, "I'm heading back out there."

"To do what?" Richard asked him.

"To kill that clock robot thing, and get out of here." Lucas announced loudly. "What else?"

"How are you going to manage that?" Richard pressed, "He just completely kicked your ass."

"You think you can do better?" Lucas snarled threateningly.

"We'll think of something." Carlos said suddenly as he rose to his feet. Lucas glanced over at him and Carlos smirked, "I'm going with you, deal with it. Now let's get out of here." With that the two of them left the tree followed silently a second later by Melissa and Jack.

Richard stayed sitting in the tree for a few seconds more tapping his arm silently. "Fuck this shit." he announced angrily as he got up and followed the others Betamon silently tagging along after him.


	9. Woodmon in the Metal Forest

Chapter 9: Woodmon in The Metal Forest

The forest seemed to go on and on forever; an endless sea of metal trees, wire like wisps of grass, and the hard metal ground beneath them. Each one of the teens had begun to tire and lag, but only Lucas showed no signs of wanting to stop for a break. Melissa had begun to wonder if there was even an end to the woods, or if they were just going to walk until they all starved to death. Engrossed in her thoughts she stumbled and nearly fell. A quick estimate told her that she was nearly spent, a little more walking and she'd be done. The sound of a loud groan caused her to notice that Jack was no longer walking alongside her.

"Hey guys, hold up." Melissa paused and looked back to see Jack slide down with his back against a tree until he was on the ground. "I'm at my limit; I have to rest for a while." The others, save Lucas, happily took seats of there own by him. Lucas stayed standing for another minute, as if he were considering going on alone, then grudgingly joined them on the ground.

Glad to be off her feet Melissa took a seat next to Jack using the same tree as a backstop. "You didn't have to do that." she told him quietly.

"No idea what you're talking about." Jack responded. "I'm tired and I need to rest."

"Fine, whatever you say." Melissa said leaning her head back against the cool metal of the tree. "I still have a boyfriend," she reminded him, "this gets you nowhere." Jack didn't make a sound. Despite what she had just said Melissa couldn't keep a slight smile, which she'd never admit to having, off her face; Jack certainly acted a lot differently than Mark.

"We should probably get moving again." Carlos suggested after realizing that their short rest had somehow stretched to nearly an hour.

"A good idea." Lucas commented rising and resuming his earlier course while the others were still pushing themselves to their feet.

"What is that man made of?" Richard wondered aloud as he followed along after Lucas with everyone else.

"Anger, hatred, and bloodlust." Carlos told him, "Pure anger, hatred, and bloodlust."

"You act as if you know him." Jack said.

"I don't," Carlos assured her, "but I know people like him, and everyone's heard stories. There are some people in this world that you don't want as your enemy, and that man is one of them."

"There's more to him than that." Melissa announced.

"Not right now there isn't," Carlos told her, "right now he just wants that clock robot thing dead and to go home."

"How does that make him different than any of us?" Melissa asked bluntly. "None of us want to be here, we want to go home, and we'll do anything we need to, to get there."

"It doesn't," Carlos told her, "except that when we say 'do anything' we mean almost anything. Lucas really truly means anything."

"How would you know?" Melissa demanded, "We've only met him today."

"Because I can hear things," Carlos told her, "thoughts and stuff. It's not always on or anything, but I can hear him like you wouldn't believe; it's like he's yelling at me."

"Bullshit." Richard told him. "If you can hear thoughts, then what am I thinking right now?"

"You don't need to be able to hear thoughts to know that." Jack butted in. "You're thinking that he's a stupid Mexican that thinks he has psychic powers."

"You have a problem four-eyes?" Richard demanded starting towards Jack.

"Actually he's thinking about how much he wants to stick it up her ass." Carlos told them cocking his head towards Melissa.

The whole group, save Lucas and Lopmon, came to an abrupt halt as Melissa rounded on Richard, her fist clenched. "You want to what?" she demanded from a shocked Richard as she advanced on him.

Her threat was interrupting by Richard twisting suddenly to the side, the smack of flesh on flesh, and the thud of a body hitting the ground. "Don't even think like that." Jack warned rubbing his fist.

"Fuck you." Richard spat, his attempt to get up was stalled a moment later when Melissa stepped on him to get to Jack.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" she demanded, raising her hand to slap him. "I don't need anyone to watch out for me." She eyed her hand for a moment then lowered it, "Be glad I'm in a good mood, or this bastard wouldn't be the only person on the ground." she emphasized her point by grinding here heel into Richard's stomach making him groan loudly before walking away.

"Yeah, I get it." Jack told her, "Don't expect me to waste my time watching your ass anymore." he declared with a smirk.

Melissa froze in her tracks, fists clenching and shoulders rising in anger. "You want to say that again!" she shouted back at Jack, before turning again and stalking towards him.

"Shut up," Carlos hissed suddenly, "both of you, just stop talking for a moment." He began looking around the forest, "I could have sworn I had just heard something."

"Like what?" Melissa asked, "Lucas?"

Carlos shushed her angrily as he struggled to hear whatever he had heard before. "It was like a buzzing," he told them, "like a big bug flying around."

They fell silent, listening trying to figure out what sort of thing Carlos had heard. After a few seconds they detected a low buzzing coming towards them, even as they listened it seemed to grow quickly in intensity. Suddenly a bright red-orange bug came into view over the trees and dove at them. The group broke and dodged around in various directions as the giant insect swooped over their heads, and back up into the sky.

"What the hell is that thing?" Carlos demanded as he pushed himself up off the ground.

"That's Kuwagamon." Betamon informed him, "He's a giant carnivorous bug digimon with a bad attitude. Make sure you watch out for his Scissor Claw attack or you'll be part of the first course."

"I never would have guessed that." Richard said sarcastically as he threw himself flat to avoid another pass by Kuwagamon.

"Bone Club!" Bonemon yelled leaping in to smack Kuwagamon with his bone, only to be swatted away like a fly.

"This doesn't look good." Richard summarized as Kuwagamon battered its way through Demi and Betamon.

"It figures that when we finally have something we need killed Lucas isn't around to do it." Jack complained as he dove behind a tree to try and escape the giant bug.

"We'll just have to deal with it." Carlos told him as he ducked behind a rock.

"Come on!" Melissa yelled at them standing her ground. "There are eight of us and only one of him!" She yelped as Jack tackled her to the ground, Kuwagamon passed over them so closely one of his mandibles tore at Jack's coat. "Get off of me!" Melissa demanded struggling to throw him off.

From behind his rock Carlos took stock of the situation; Jack straddling Melissa, Richard hiding in his ditch, and their partners scattered and battered. As Kuwagamon turned to come back at Melissa and Jack Carlos picked up a stone and tossed it up and down a few times to test its heft. As the bug charged he hurled it with all his might at its face.

The stone might have been a soap bubble for all the damage it did, but it had the desired effect. Within moments Kuwagamon was chasing Carlos through the trees, in the direction Lucas had taken, Mushroomon and then the others struggling to follow.

Carlos' speed might have been impressive, and they might have been able to dodge Kuwagamon by dipping, diving, and ducking at the last second, but in a flat out footrace no human stood a chance against the huge bug. It felt to Carlos that he had just started running when he felt Kuwagamon's mandibles shut around one of his legs and pull him up into the air.

The others pulled up short when they saw Carlos lifted into the air mouthing 'oh shit's and 'we're screwed's as they contemplated what was about to happen. A shining white light coming from Carlos' waist seemed to cut off all their thoughts however.

Suddenly Mushroomon rushed forward, the same glow surrounding him, "Don't worry Carlos," he declared, "I'm coming!" Suddenly the glow seemed to consume him, "Mushroomon digivolve to Woodmon." As Kuwagamon turned to regard the giant tree rushing towards it Woodmon brought his arm down on the bug's head, "Branch Bash!" Carlos tumbled free of Kuwagamon's jaws and was caught neatly in one of Woodmon's arms as he leapt clear of the bug.

Kuwagamon turned towards Woodmon, chittering as it appraised the new threat. Woodmon didn't give the bug a chance to react, hopping quickly to the side and firing off a barrage of bark at it, "Woody Smasher!"

Kuwagamon reared back from the blows and then leaped forward, its wings propelling it toward Carlos and Woodmon at frightening speed its mandibles opening and closing with crushing force. "Scissor Claw!"

As Kuwagamon closed Woodmon continued to pepper it with Woody Smashers, though the barrages of bark had little effect. Finally, a moment before impact, Woodmon brought its arm down onto Kuwagamon's head with enough power to smash it down into a crater in the metal ground.

Woodmon backed off a few steps as Kuwagamon rose unsteadily to its feet, shook itself off, and flew off in search of easier prey. Carefully Woodmon crouched down and allowed Carlos to jump down to the ground, then he dedigivolved back into Mushroomon.

"That was interesting." Richard commented, "Care to explain how you did it."

Carlos shrugged himself, and turned to look at Mushroomon, "I wouldn't mind knowing that one myself." he commented.

Mushroomon himself looked puzzled, "I don't know." he finally admitted, "When I saw you in danger it was like some force rose up inside me and caused me to digivolve."

"So they digivolve when we're in danger." Melissa mused, "That's interesting."

"That doesn't explain why Lopmon could do it earlier." Jack noted. "Or why we couldn't either."

"Maybe it has to be direct and imminent danger." Carlos offered.

"Doesn't explain why I couldn't digivolve earlier when Richard and I were surrounded by Hagurumon." Betamon mentioned.

"Whatever it is, it's a complex problem." summarized Carlos, "And we can figure it out later, right now we have to try and catch up with Lucas."

"That would be an excellent idea." Lucas stated, the group jumped, startled because no one had noticed his arrival, "If I hadn't just walked already back here to find you."

"So, um, did you find anything?" Richard asked.

"There's a stream ahead." Lucas supplied, "It's completely filled with pollution from some sort of factory complex further up stream. I have a feeling that's where we need to go."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Demi asked, "Show us where this stream is."

Lucas chuckled a little as he turned around and once more began walking through the forest, his companions following in his footsteps.


	10. Don’t Swim with Coelamon

Chapter 10: Don't Swim with Coelamon

They came to the river at dusk. As Lucas had said the water was completely filled with pollution. That was something that didn't bode well for anyone in the group, because they hadn't eaten or had a drink since they had arrived in the digital world. Even so none of them wanted to brave the river to see whether it was okay or not.

"What now?" Carlos asked, "Are we going to try to head towards those factories?"

"Do we have a choice?" Lucas asked. "We're going to need food, and in a metal environment like this there aren't many places to get it from."

"How far is it?" Jack asked neither he nor any of the others had seen the factories yet.

"You can look for yourself from on top of that hill." Lucas said pointing towards a hill to the north. "I'd say we have about a day and a half to two days of travel before we get there."

"And in the meantime, what about food?" Melissa asked.

"Believe it or not there are fish in there." Lucas said pointing at the river. "I saw a few fishing boats earlier."

"I'm not sure I want to eat anything that's been swimming around in this river." Mushroomon said as he poked the water with a stick.

"Don't do that." Richard warned, "God knows what lives in there."

"Probably some sort of giant man eating fish." Melissa said remembering Kuwagamon.

"One can only wish." Jack muttered.

"What was that?" Melissa demanded, turning to face him.

"I said 'A fish is a fish.'" Jack told her.

"That's a load of bullshit and you know it." Melissa shot back closing the distance between them.

"And what are you going to do about it?" Jack asked her.

"Stop it right now you guys." Carlos told them. "We have more important things to do."

"Like starting to walk." Lucas supplied.

"We've been walking all day." Richard complained. "Aren't you a little tired?"

"Walking isn't something that tires me out." Lucas told him calmly.

"Well we all need rest." Richard told him.

"That's just too bad." said Lucas, "This isn't a good place to stop; we're out in the open and too close to that scene you made with the giant bug."

"You don't think something's actually going to check that out, do you?" Jack asked.

"Why chance it?" Lucas asked him, Jack didn't answer. "The way I see it," Lucas explained, "anything that was looking for us would have either heard or heard about that, so we should do our best to get away from there as quickly as possible."

"Point taken," Carlos told him, "but I don't think any of us could make it much farther today."

"Why do we have to walk?" Melissa asked the others looked at her oddly. "Why don't we just take a ship?" she asked pointing at a passing fishing ship. A number of nods went around the group before Carlos stepped forward.

"Hey," he called out waving his arms, "Mr. Fisherman! Over here!" They caught a glimpse of a bald head and then the boat began to turn towards the shore.

As the boat got closer they were able to make out a single digimon onboard. It seemed to be all head, with heavily muscled arms and legs sprouting from its ears and chin. Its only clothing was a pair of red gloves and boots as well as a set of large shades. "What kin I do fer ya?" it asked them.

"We were wondering if you could give us a ride up the river." Carlos told him.

The digimon boomed with laughter. "Yer wantin ta take a trip up da riva?" it asked, Carlos nodded. Again it laughed, "Do yer know who yer talkin ta?" it asked, Carlos shook his head. "Da name's Nanimon, boy," the digimon told him, "I'm da best damn angler on dis here riva." Suddenly Nanimon smiled broadly, "I like yer style," he told Carlos, "ya got spunk. If ya an yer friends want ta travel up da riva den I'll take ya."

"Thanks Captain." Carlos said hopping onto the boat. The others followed soon after, though Richard mumbled something about not trusting the guy's accent. "So how's the fishing on this river?" Carlos asked.

"It's nae as gud as it used ta be." Nanimon admitted. "Bout two weeks ago somethin happened up in da north. Rivas bin full uh crap since den. Killed off most uh da damn fishes."

"Was that when those factories were built?" Lucas asked quietly.

"Doz factories ah newer den dat, boy." Nanimon told him. "Dere nae more den a week old."

"What could they be doing that's polluted a river this much in only two weeks?" Jack pondered to himself.

"Is it safe to drink it?" Melissa asked watching the water pass by.

"I'd git away from da edge of dis boat." Nanimon warned her. "Dat water's poisin ta anythin dat lives on land." Melissa backed away from the edge quickly.

"Ya ain't digimon ah ya?" Nanimon asked.

"That's right we're humans." Carlos admitted. "Why?"

Nanimon looked suddenly impressed. "Guess dat makes ya digidestined." He laughed heartily while the group traded questioning glances. "I shudda known, no digimon wudda taken da riva up."

"If you don't mind," Carlos began, "what do you mean digidestined?"

Nanimon looked at them quizzically. "Don't act like ya don't know." he told them, "Yer da digidestined kids, a bunch of human heroes dat come here when dere's danger."

"We're not heroes." Melissa admitted.

"Thus are the words of a true hero." Jack mentioned Melissa glared at him, Nanimon again laughed heartily.

During this time Richard and Betamon had been poking around a group of four barrels. Finally Betamon silently slipped a few fish out of one of them and set about devouring them.

"Ey!" Nanimon yelled finally noticing them. "Don't ya mess wit doz, dere important."

"Why are they so important?" Richard challenged.

"I need dem to keep da beast off ah backs." Nanimon told him striding over.

"The beast?" Betamon asked quizzically. As if on cue Richard threw himself flat as something massive impacted the bottom of the boat.

"Dat's da beast!" Nanimon yelled as he hit the ground, along with the others, save Betamon who had better balance and Demi who had taken flight. "Throw doz barrels over da edge!" Nanimon bellowed.

Richard pushed himself to his feet and tried to drag a barrel over to the edge with Betamon's help, leaping into the air right before each time the beast smashed into the boat. Suddenly the beast leapt clear of the water alongside them, it was an enormous metal plated fish with massive jaws and clawed fins.

"Dat's the beast." Nanimon informed them. "It's a Coelamon dat's bin terrizing fishing boats in da area fer a month, watch out fer doz jaws or ya'll be in two b'for ya know it."

The warning turned out to be unnecessary, after the earlier encounter with Kuwagamon they had figured anything with big jaws was dangerous. However as Coelamon hit the water its wake shook the boat enough to send Richard, Betamon, and a barrel of fish over the side.

There were moans of dismay as the others watched Richard go over. They had just lost a person, not almost injured or left but flat out died. Nanimon watched impassively from where he was, wondering if the beast would go after the human.

Richard, to his credit, was not dead. As he had gone over Richard had sucked in the largest breath he could and held it, and was now struggling to swim upwards his eyes shut tight against the water. There was no doubt in his mind; all he thought about was that he had to get to the surface. With his eyes shut he couldn't see the bright low that was growing in his pocket, and he was far enough under water that the others couldn't either.

Finally there was an explosion of light from under the water, and a voice rang out. "Betamon digivolve to Seadramon." From the ship the others watched in awe as a giant green serpent with a yellow head and red stripes rose up from the waters Richard seated just behind a pair of fin-like crests where its ears should be. In the half-moonlight with polluted river water draining down his head Richard looked incredibly fearsome and villainous.

"Fossil Bite!" Coelamon leapt at them its jaws opened wide for a powerful bite, but Seadramon dodged around the fish with ease.

"Ice Blast!" Seadramon roared firing a massive chunk of ice at Coelamon. It hit and sent the massive fish skimming away through the water.

In the absolute silence that followed Richard's words were perfectly clear. "Seadramon, kill it."

The Coelamon returned to the attack swimming straight at them, Seadramon pummeled it with Ice Blasts as it came. Finally it leapt at the serpent in another attempt to bite it, but again Seadramon dodged. This time though Seadramon used its serpentine length to coil around Coelamon holding it in place. "Ice Winder!" Seadramon called subjecting Coelamon to an endless stream of ice that slowly froze it until it shattered into a million little particles.

Only then did Richard and Seadramon make there way back to the boat. "Let's keep going." Richard told an awestruck Nanimon who nodded numbly and readjusted the boat's course as Seadramon swam alongside.

Far off, in the heart of the massive factory complex a lone Hagurumon approached a being on a dais. "My Lord," it began, "it would appear that the Coelamon released into the great river has been killed."

"Why is this my concern?" a harsh computerized voice answered, "Just release another one."

"My Lord," the Hagurumon continued, "after the breaches in security earlier today, perhaps Clockmon's position should be reinforced.

"Clockmon has more than enough forces to deal with whatever comes his way." the robotic voice answered. "But just to make sure send him orders to attack all the fishing villages along the river."

"Yes my Lord." the Hagurumon stated making a hasty retreat from its master's sanctuary.


	11. Crazy Bones in Blueport

Chapter 11: Crazy Bones in Blueport

"Dis is where I stop." Nanimon announced as he maneuvered the boat up to a dock. "Welcome ta da town of Blueport."

"Not quite so blue." Richard said slipping onto the dock as Seadramon dedigivolved. True enough the water here was the same shade of black as the rest of the river.

"Did ya expect anythin diffrent?" Nanimon asked as he approached the edge of the boat with the barrel of fish Betamon had eaten from. "An one more thin," he began, "Cuz ya killed off da beast, an saved mah cargo I'm goin ta give ya dis barrel ah fishes."

"We don't really have anything to carry it in." Lucas told him.

Nanimon broke out into a broad smile, "Well den," he told them, "I'll trade ya sum packs fer half a barrel ah fishes."

Ten minutes later they set off carrying four backpacks worth of fish. "I could carry some fish you know." Melissa grouched. She was the only one without a pack.

"I'm sure you could," Carlos told her, "but the fact is we're carrying the fish."

"Let's just find somewhere to sleep." Jack suggested. "Pretty soon it'll be getting early."

"Afraid of the dark?" Richard taunted.

"Dead tired." Jack told him not rising to the bait.

"We'll sleep in the next alley we find." Lucas told them. "We don't have any money on us, and we'll need the fish later."

"I'm not sleeping on the ground." Melissa told him.

"Then you can stay awake Princess." Lucas told her.

"You guys don't want to sleep in an alley do you?" Melissa asked appealing to her companions. Richard shrugged, and Jack just looked at her.

"Don't worry about it." Carlos told her. "It'll be light in a few hours, and we'll leave then."

"More walking?" Richard complained. "That's nearly all we've done since we got here."

"And it's nearly all we'll do until we get home." Lucas told him.

"Let's just find a damn alley." Jack quipped.

"Is everything set up?" Clockmon asked the Hagurumon before him.

"Yes Lord." the Hagurumon replied, "The villages will all be ours by dawn."

"How dare demands be made of me." Clockmon complained. "There are intruders in the woods that I need our full forces to deal with, and here I am being forced to spread myself thin and attack a number of worthless villages."

"Shall I give the order to attack?" the Hagurumon asked.

"Immediately." Clockmon ordered. "The sooner we get back to finding those humans the sooner we can finish our work here. I will not have them interfering with my plans."

"Not going to sleep?" Jack asked looking over at Melissa.

"I already said I'm not going to sleep in an alley." Melissa reminded him gesturing to the area Lucas had found for them. "Why are you awake anyway?"

Jack shrugged, "Didn't feel like sleeping." he said simply.

They remained silent for a moment before Melissa spoke up again, "Do you always where those?" she asked, "The sunglasses, I mean." Jack nodded. "Why?" she asked.

"I have reasons." Jack told her. "Trust me, its better that they stay on."

"Why though?" she asked, "Do you have scars or something?"

"Yeah," Jack told her, "or something."

Melissa remained silent for a moment before changing the topic. "Do you think people have noticed we're gone?" she asked him quietly.

"Of course they have." Jack told her, "We've been gone for nearly a day, at least. "They've probably started searching for us already, especially you Princess."

"Shut up." she told him angrily, "Don't call me that. I don't want people to treat me specially just because of what I am."

"You sure about that?" Jack asked Melissa nodded in return. "Well too bad, I'm not about to go smacking you around like I would Richard should he piss me off."

"I didn't mean it like that." Melissa told him angrily, "I just meant that I wanted to be treated as an equal."

"And when have I not treated you as an equal?" Jack demanded.

"How about on the walk here, with the fish?" Melissa pointed out.

"I didn't have a right not to take the damn fish." Jack snarled the anger in his voice startling.

"What are you talking about?" Melissa asked, "It's a backpack full of fish."

"It's not just a backpack full of fish." Jack told her, "It's more than that." He sighed and looked away, "Do you realize I haven't done anything since we got here. Not one thing. Everyone else has done their part: you, Lucas, Carlos, even Richard. And what have I done, stood around and gotten in the way."

"You haven't gotten in the way." Melissa assured him.

Bullshit." Jack said simply.

"You saved my life in the forest." Melissa told him.

"Not what you said then." Jack shot back.

"I lied," Melissa admitted, "I was caught up in the moment." Jack rolled his eyes. "Fine," she huffed, "believe whatever the fuck you want."

"I will." Jack told her turning his back; she repeated the gesture a second later.

They remained silent for a few minutes, each person tossing ideas and emotions around in their head. Finally Jack spoke up, "Sorry for being an argumentative bastard." he said without turning around.

"And I'm sorry for being a contrary wench." Melissa told him before joining his chuckling at their self appointed titles. "Your coat's torn." She said softly showing that she had turned around.

"It's nothing," Jack scoffed, "don't worry about it."

"It's my fault." she continued running her hand down Jack's back. "Let me fix it for you sometime."

"Ok," Jack allowed, "I'll let you fix it sometime."

"Thanks." Melissa said not removing her hand from Jack's back. It occurred to her that there was no reason for her to leave it there, but she couldn't bring herself to move it; especially not when he felt so damn tense.

Abruptly all the tension left Jack's body in a single long sigh. "Stay here." he told her as he stood up and attempted to pull himself up onto a low roof.

"What's going on?" Melissa asked as Jack yanked Bonemon up with him.

"I don't know." Jack said as he jumped onto an adjacent roof and stopped.

"What's wrong?" Melissa asked, "Why'd you stop."

"It looks like there's something moving out there." he told her. "I'm going to have to get closer to be sure though."

"Hold on." Melissa said as Jack climbed down and prepared to leave. She reached over and shook Demi awake. "I'm coming with you." she declared.

"No way," Jack told her, "Bonemon and I are doing this alone. I have a feeling it'll turn out to be dangerous."

"All the more reason for me to come." Melissa insisted. "What if something happens to you? Then who'll warn everyone else."

"You're just going to come no matter what I say aren't you?" Jack asked Melissa nodded once. "Then just come on already."

They snuck slowly down the street carefully covering the sound of their footsteps as they stuck to the shadows. Neither was sure why they were being so sneaky, but both would have agreed that it seemed like a good idea. Finally they reached the edge of the town and saw what was moving slowly towards them.

There were a dozen of them. Eight were the same type of digimon that had been with the clock robot back at the forest in addition to them three of the others were vaguely humanoid and made of red-brown metal. The final one was a massive green and brown digimon that seemed to grow out of a green treaded truck, its hands appeared to be a pair of large machineguns, and in place of a nose it bore a large cannon.

"This doesn't look good." Melissa said watching the digimon move towards Blueport. "What are we going to do?" she asked.

"Wake them up." Jack told her, "We're going to wake everyone up and run for it." Silently they got up and ran back the way they had come. They were half way back when the sounds of the first attacks hit the village. Simultaneously they skidded to a stop. "You go wake them up." Jack told her, "I'll keep an eye on things for a bit and then meet up with you."

"Like hell you will." Melissa argued, "You're thinking that this is your big chance to do something."

"And this is your big chance to be treated equally." Jack shot back as he began to walk back towards the sounds of gunfire.

"You'll get yourself killed." Melissa yelled after him.

"Just remember, you owe me a fixed coat." Jack told her before he turned the corner.

Melissa rocked back and forth for a few moments unable to decide which way to go. Suddenly a shell thundered overhead and into a building not too far away. "If they're not awake yet, I can't wake them." she decided before taking off after Jack.

As the sound of blasts assailed the city Lucas jerked upright from the ground, the other humans and digimon soon following. "What the hell's going on?" he demanded from no one in particular.

"It sounds like there's a war going on." Carlos said looking around. "Where are Jack and Melissa anyway?" he asked.

"Demi and Bonemon are gone too." Lopmon informed them.

"They probably ran when all this started." Richard said. "Which is what we should be doing too."

Lucas looked back at Richard and smirked. "Not in the least," he informed him, "any big battle going on around here likely involves our friend on the clock. So we actually want to head right into this."

Both Carlos and Richard looked at him for a long while. Finally Mushroomon spoke up, "You're insane."

Lucas shrugged, "Aren't we all?" he asked as he and Lopmon began to move towards the fighting. The others remained behind for a moment before reluctantly following him.

Jack and Bonemon were crouched down beside a pair of rock like digimon behind the foundations of a house when Melissa found him. "Having fun?" she asked as she hunkered down beside him.

"I told you to wake up the others and go." Jack growled at her annoyed.

"I got lost." she said simply. Carefully she looked out over her cover at the village around them. It was a blasted ruined reminder of its former quaintness. Through the smoke that drifted along the ground she could make out the forms of three of the giant robots and one of the red-brown ones. "Why are you still here?" she asked angrily.

"I told you I would keep an eye on things." Jack told her, still growling. "It's rather hard to watch things from far away."

"Powa Drive!" a large white ball yelled as it tackled the red-brown robot. As it uncurled itself the ball was revealed to be Nanimon. "Explodin Punch!" Nanimon brought his fist down onto the robot blowing it to pieces. Almost immediately afterwards Nanimon was struck by three lasers in succession from the other robots throwing him across the street and through a house.

"You two," Jack said nudging the two stone digimon, "get him away from here." He turned to Melissa again, "Come on, we're heading the other way." Melissa nodded once in understanding before taking the initiative and heading up the street with Jack hot on her heels.

Hearing the sound of pursuit behind them and seeing a number of lasers flash by was enough to keep the four of them moving at top speed through the village. Finally they arrived, panting, at a dead end. Behind them they could hear the steady grind of treads moving over broken ground.

"Excellent job," Jack told Melissa, "you're a real living compass."

"I didn't hear you objecting." she shot back angrily.

"Oh shut up already." Jack told her, "Maybe if we're quiet they won't notice us."

Melissa leaned in, getting right up on Jack's face. "That's a load of bullshit." she told him, "You know as well as I do that they know we're here."

"Just listen to him and hope for the best." Demi told her as he landed behind a pile of rubble beside Bonemon and Jack pulled Melissa out of sight next to him.

Their hopes were dashed a moment later when the green and brown tank like digimon began approaching down the street. A cry of, "Machinegun Arms!" was their only warning before a massive hail of bullets assailed their position chipping away at the rubble they were hidden behind.

"Not good." Jack said from where he crouched between the rubble and Melissa.

"Hyper Cannon!" the tank yelled firing a massive grinning shell out of the cannon on its nose. The projectile streaked in to where Bonemon and Demi were hiding forcing them to jump for other cover; Demi wound up next to Jack and Melissa and Bonemon further away from them.

"Come on," Jack whispered to himself, "where the hell is everyone else?" he could feel the tank moving towards them, its weapons lining up to fire. He looked wistfully in the direction of Bonemon, if they were close enough to speak maybe they could come up with some sort of plan; his partner reflected the look. Jack smiled and shrugged, as if to say 'What happens, happens.' As time continued Jack as sure he could hear the sound of the tank preparing its armaments for another volley. He made sure that he was between Melissa and Demi and their enemy; if anything happened at least they'd have a chance to get back home.

Suddenly he was jerked from his reverie by the sound of a voice from where Bonemon was hiding, "Bonemon digivolve to Skelemon." The meter tall skeleton digimon grew to a full seven feet in height while his club sprouted a blade, becoming instead a sword. Standing at his full height Skelemon dashed out of his hiding spot, machinegun bullets from the tank striking the ground behind them as he made his way forward. "Bone Sword!" Skelemon yelled slashing downward with his blade and taking off one of the tank's machineguns.

The tank roared in pain and fired his remaining machinegun at Skelemon, but the skeleton flipped nimbly back away from danger. As Skelemon landed the tank fired another 'Hyper Cannon' but Skelemon leapt to the side and through his sword forward with a yell of, "Bone Boomerang!" The sword spun through the air and sliced through the nose cannon, continued on and turned, returning to Skelemon and cutting off the other machinegun arm as it flew. The tank slammed itself into reverse, struggling to get away from Skelemon, but the skeleton was on it before it could get moving, slicing it to pieces in a flurry of 'Bone Swords.'

Jack, Melissa, and Demi watched in awe as Skelemon jauntily made its way back to them. "Decent work." A voice said from behind them and the three turned to see Lucas standing on top of the building in the shadow of Wendigomon. The others were also up there standing behind those two. "Now let's keep it up."

A Hagurumon hurried quickly through the deserted and demolished streets of the village once known as Sealeaf. "My Lord!" it shrieked upon catching a glimpse of Clockmon as he prowled the ruins. "My Lord, we have received reports locating the intruders from the woods!" it told its leader.

"Where are they?" Clockmon demanded.

"A small fishing village called Blueport a short way from here." the Hagurumon exclaimed.

"Reposition all our units." Clockmon ordered its lips twisting into a crooked smile. "And tell them that by morning there shall be no Blueport."


	12. The Battle for Blueport

Chapter 12: The Battle for Blueport

Blueport was in ruins, but it was still standing. The forces that had been sent to pacify it had been defeated after an hour of determined fighting. The group now stood in a large circle along with the rest of the residents as they discussed what to do. Very few of the villages residents were still among the living following the surprise assault. Nanimon was among them, along with five of the rock like Gotsumon, a trio of flightless birds known as Kiwimon, two weedy Veggiemon, and a single seal like Gomamon.

They had been joined only a few minutes earlier by a trio of rat like Chuumon fleeing from the destruction of the nearby village of Sealeaf. Two of the Chuumon stayed long enough to tell them that Clockmon himself was coming this way with nearly his entire army before again fleeing; the other was still hanging around. None of the defenders of Blueport accompanied them.

"We're going to be surrounded." Lucas told the assembled digimon. "They'll also have massively superior firepower. Our best chance for survival lies in retreat." the assembled digimon began to mutter and complain but Lucas silenced them with a quick chop of his hand. "That however isn't going to work here." he told them. Therefore we need to do our best to keep them from being able to bring their full force to bear on us at any one time. Our best bet then is to use these ruined buildings and rubble to try to create some sort of fortifications to shield us from their fire."

"What about da digimon dat attack from up close an personal like?" Nanimon asked.

"They wait for them to come to us." Lucas told him. "We've already seen that Clockmon's forces prefer to close with an enemy before opening fire. In doing so they put themselves into our reach. We should make that initial advance as difficult as possible; I'm taking about anything we can do: dig holes, make booby traps, scatter broken glass around, and maybe even dig a bit of a moat around the village."

The entire gathering remained silent for nearly a minute before Carlos got to his feet, "Well let's not just stand here." he told them as he motioned Woodmon to follow him. "We're not going to do this sitting down."

Carlos' words were all that was needed to get everyone working. They supposed they had at most two hours of time to prepare for the attack. Woodmon worked alongside Skelemon digging holes and pits while Melissa, Demi, Gomamon Jack, and Richard gathered up and spread the broken bits of glass they could find around. Seadramon and Nanimon worked together to burrow a tunnel just under the surface of the ground all around Blueport with each end in the water. Lucas, Carlos, and the Gotsumon worked on stacking the rubble up into fortifications as Wendigomon and the Veggiemon broke apart the remaining buildings and brought all of the rubble to a central location. All this time the Kiwimon were busying themselves planting the Demikiwimon formed from their 'Pummel Peck' attacks just underground as makeshift landmines. They worked for an hour and a half straight before the Chuumon, who was on guard duty, warned them that the enemy force was approaching.

As the first rays of daylight began to filter into the sky the defenders huddled behind their makeshift fortifications. A moment later they caught sight of Clockmon's forces. They ringed the village, leaving only the polluted hell of the river empty. As they advanced the situation began to look bleaker and bleaker. The force was massive: in only a few moments the defenders were able to count a score of Mekanorimon, ten Guardromon, four Tankmon, and upwards of thirty Hagurumon, in addition to Clockmon himself.

Slowly the enemy began their advance on the ruins of Blueport the Hagurumon spread out moving in front of the main bulk of the troops. As Lucas had predicted they held their fire as they moved in and all the defenders had to deal with were a couple inaccurate 'Hyper Cannon' shells. Quickly those defending digimon that had ranged attacks began to fire on the attackers, 'Pummel Pecks' and 'Ice Blasts' cutting through the Hagurumon out front swiftly.

The attacks and losses did nothing to halt the enemy advance. Luckily however the Hagurumon floated right over the Demikiwimon mines causing them to be detonated by the heavier troops behind them sending them reeling and after a few hits eliminating some. The same could not be said of the glass which had no effect at all on the machine digimon.

Lucas grimaced as he saw the machines move through the glass without as much as flinching. His gaze was slowly drawn to the shaking form of Chuumon huddled beside him. "Take this," he said to Wendigomon passing the rat to his partner, "and put it right over there." he ordered pointing at a point to their south where the line was mainly made up of Mekanorimon. "And you get ready to run." Lucas told Chuumon as Wendigomon dutifully hurled the rat at the enemy.

The rat flew high and far as the other digimon of Blueport looked at Lucas in shock and astonishment. Finally Chuumon landed in the midst of the broken glass, as he landed the ranks of Mekanorimon buckled began to entangle each other as they brought their weapons to bear. The poorly aimed shots passed by Chuumon as he gained his feet and began to run, the lasers refracting around off the glass striking the Mekanorimon and further destroying the ranks. Most of the robots were damaged by the lasers, and some were destroyed, others were knocked back onto the mines, or into the holes they were attempting to avoid. As Chuumon ran back towards the defenses the entire south flank of the attack collapsed behind his fleeing form.

Meanwhile the other attackers had reached the area Seadramon had tunneled through earlier, their weight causing the area to collapse underneath them dropping the attackers into the water. Some managed to pull themselves out of the water, but the majority were shorted out or too weighed down by the water seeping in through holes caused earlier in the battle to continue. Two of the Tankmon especially were forcibly submerged and unable to get out because of their treads, the other two were stranded on the far side and forced to lob shells at the defenders from there.

As Clockmon and his remaining forces advanced Gomamon surfaced from beneath the water of the new canal drawing the attention of the Tankmon as Seadramon rose up behind them and smashed them into the canal with a sweep of his tail, before they both dove back under to avoid any return fire.

The forces of Guardromon and Mekanorimon had finally moved in close enough to fire accurately and lasers and grenades began to thump against the defenses with increasing intensity. Two of the Gotsumon and one of the Veggiemon were killed before they could get down behind cover. Nervously they waited as the enemy approached closer spreading out to fill in the gaps that were left from the almost total collapse of the southern flank which had only now reached the canal.

"We can't keep hiding in here like rats." Melissa complained. "We need to keep hitting."

"Just a little bit more." Lucas said, speaking mostly to himself. He watched the enemy advance through a small hole in the wall. "Now!" he yelled up at Wendigomon as they continued approaching.

Wendigomon rose up from behind the wall immediately. "Cable Crusher!" he yelled slinging his cables out at the enemy before jumping out himself. The two cables wrapped around a pair of Guardromon and he smashed them together before spinning around using them as flails. The other digimon followed him out. Nanimon ran ahead with a roar smashing head long into the nearest robot, Woodmon burst out from the defenses firing bark and smashing the enemy with his limbs, Skelemon moved quickly between the enemies as quickly as possible slashing as he went, Seadramon rose up from the river alongside Gomamon and the two began to pummel the enemy with 'Marching Fishes' and 'Ice Blasts,' the trio of Kiwimon darted around subjecting enemies to concentrated 'Pummel Pecks' and leaving before anyone could return fire, and the remaining Veggiemon and Gotsumon as well as Chuumon teamed up to avenge their friends deaths. Only Demi remained behind guarding Melissa and the rest of the group.

The digimon were lucky, and determined, and brutal, and took the enemy by surprise. In a short time they managed to take out the majority of the enemies that faced them though Clockmon eliminated the trio of Kiwimon and a massed barrage of lasers had dedigivolved Seadramon to Betamon and forced him and Gomamon to flee under the water.

Leaving the remaining forces to the other defenders the group's partners turned their attention to Clockmon. "Cable Crusher!" Wendigomon yelled again firing the cables at Clockmon this time they were accompanied by a barrage of bark from Woodmon.

"Chrono Breaker!" Clockmon cackled, the hands on the clock spinning around wildly as the attackers slowed to a stop. Suddenly Clockmon appeared in front of Skelemon and smashed him with an underhand blow that sent him flying up into the air and smashed him into the ground forcing him to dedigivolve. By the time Skelemon had landed Clockmon had appeared next to Woodmon and hit him with an overhand smash that put him into a crater as Mushroomon in much the same way as he had done to Kuwagamon the day before. Finally Clockmon turned to Wendigomon and hit him with a smash that would have made any Major League slugger jealous, sending Wendigomon flying into and through the defenses finally breaching the wall.

"How futile." Clockmon commented as he entered the fortifications. "It doesn't matter how hard you digidestined struggle, I'm going to kill you all anyway and dance on your corpses."

"Is that your best threat?" Jack asked incredulously struggling to remain strong in the face of certain death. "In that case let me tell you what we'd do to you if you weren't going to shatter into millions of tiny particles. You see we're going to slice off your arms and legs after pulling off each of your fingers and toes, then we're going to pull your spine out through your ribs and-" he was cut off by Clockmon swinging the mallet at him furiously and was barely able to be yanked out of the way by Carlos and Richard.

Clockmon's attention was drawn away from them by a rock and a syringe hitting him in the back of the head. "You really think it's over yet?" Melissa asked as she tossed a rock up and down, her voice filled with false bravado. "You still have Demi and me to deal with."

Clockmon stalked slowly over to where Melissa stood unmoving; either defying him to the end or frozen to the ground in fear. He knocked Demi out of the way with a contemptuous gesture and raised his mallet to bring it down on Melissa's still motionless form.

Suddenly Clockmon was drawn away from his plans by a sudden surge of light behind him. "Demidevimon digivolve to Devimon." a low voice declared. When Clockmon finished turning he found himself confronted by a tall black smirking digimon with long arms, tattered wings, and a horned head.

With a yell Clockmon swung his mallet at the smirking devil only to have his foe vanish and appear behind him. "Chrono Breaker!" Clockmon yelled in anger the clock hands spinning wildly, then he struck but once again Devimon vanished and appeared behind him.

This time Devimon took the offensive, "Touch of Evil!" he yelled thrusting his hand through Clockmon's body in an explosion of dark energy as Clockmon roared in pain. Then he with drew his hand and with another "Touch of Evil!" thrust it through the face of the clock.

Clockmon stumbled away as he began to disintegrate. "You think you've won?" he ranted as the few remaining members of his army fled the field. "You've won nothing; I'm but an advance officer of a much more powerful force. And you have no chance of beating him." he declared as he finally finished disintegrating.

"Well I'll be…" a bruised and battered Nanimon said as he and the others, along with Gomamon and Betamon, approached the group and a newly dedigivolved Demi. "Yer rilly da Digidestined." he said his voice filled with awe.

There, done with the whole first arc and before the end of September too. Thus I hate to break it to you all, but it's unlikely that I'll be posting another chapter before mid-October. School and work and all. Hope you enjoyed.


	13. The Legend of the Digidestined

Chapter 13: The Legend of the Digidestined

"Well I'll be…" a bruised and battered Nanimon said as he and the others, along with Gomamon and Betamon, approached the group and a newly dedigivolved Demi. "Yer rilly da Digidestined." he said his voice filled with awe.

"That's enough." Lucas said as he stood from beside Lopmon. "I want to know who these digidestined are. And not just that they were a bunch of human heroes. I want the whole story, now."

"It all started ages ago." Chuumon piped up. "There was an ancient and powerful evil digimon by the name of Apocalamon who was terrorizing the digiworld. The four Harmonious Ones called upon a group of nine human children to destroy him and after numerous trials they succeeded. Supposedly many years later they were called back to face an enemy that required all the strength of the digital world to defeat and died sealing it away for eternity."

"And that ends it." Richard broke in, "There are only five of us, and we're all very much alive."

"There's more to the story." Chuumon informed Richard angrily. "Many, many, many years later a new group of seven kids were called to the Digital World and later met by the eighth to again defeat Apocalamon. After they succeeded the digiworld remained peaceful for three years before a rogue digidestined attempted to enslave it, again the digidestined were called back and with the help of three new digidestined ousted the Digimon Emperor from power, but were then called upon to defeat an enemy that again called for the full strength of the Digital World to defeat."

"And they died defeating their foe, right?" Jack asked sarcastically.

"They lived." Chuumon corrected. "This last part happened only about four years ago, as far as we know they still live."

"And since then?" Lucas asked.

"You." Chuumon told them.

"Why would we be here if they're still alive?" Carlos wondered out loud.

"Maybe they all died fighting Clockmon's superiors." Melissa put forth.

"Way to be pessimistic." Betamon told them. "Maybe they just are too old to take part in this or they couldn't be reached."

"And maybe us being here is just some stupid experiment." Melissa told the digimon sarcastically.

"Back onto the topic." Lucas interrupted. "How do you know this?"

"There were a pair of old Gabumon that were in charge of a large archive of the digiworld's history in Sealeaf." Chuumon revealed. "I used to listen to them tell stories when I was in Sealeaf."

"Where is this Sealeaf and its archive?" Lucas demanded pulling the single remaining bag of fish onto his back.

"It's that way, a large white marble building with a domed roof," Chuumon said pointing upriver with a shaking hand, "but you don't want to go there, Clockmon destroyed it himself right before he came here. There won't be anything left."

"Doesn't matter," Lucas said, "that's were I'm headed." He turned back to the others, "It's your choice if you want to keep following me." he told them, "I'm headed to this Sealeaf and then probably on to those factories."

"I'm with you." Carlos told him immediately.

"Nothing better to do." Melissa admitted.

"I guess I could tag along." Jack said.

"I'll stick around, at least until Sealeaf." Richard agreed.

"That settles it then." Carlos said as Lucas began to leave. "Nanimon you're in charge here while we're gone." he told the fisherman digimon, "Make sure this place looks like new when we get back."

"Will do!" Nanimon said as he saluted with gusto, watching Carlos hurry off to catch up with the others. "If ya eva git back." he added quietly to himself.

The ruins of Sealeaf were an hour's walk from Blueport, and the five new digidestined walked the whole way in silence. Slowly as the hour wore on the rigorous schedule from the last day began to take its toll on the group, particularly Melissa and Jack who began to lag behind.

Finally they reached what remained of Sealeaf, a large spread of fallen buildings no higher than a grown man's knee. Even so it wasn't difficult for them to find their way to the archives; they were the only marble ruins in the entire city. Once there it became apparent that Chuumon had been correct. There wasn't anything left of the archives or the two Gabumon, just a pile of marble and shattered glass.

"This is just perfect." Richard said angrily, "There's absolutely nothing here of any worth." He angrily aimed a kick at a piece of marble beside him. The piece shuddered a bit and slid off to the side revealing a multicolored lens of some sort. "I stand corrected." he said to himself as the others crowded around to look at his discovery.

Suddenly the lens, obviously a projector of some sort, flared into life, a shimmering column of multicolored light rising from it. In the center a man with short, spiked brown hair in a tan robe stood. "It's good to finally see you digidestined." the man said to them.

"And who the hell are you?" Lucas barked at him.

"My name is Benjamin, and I'm here to provide guidance to all of you while of you are here in the Digital World." The man replied sounding none too excited at the prospect.

"Well then Ben," Lucas said with an equal amount of excitement, "provide me with some guidance home."

"My name is Benjamin." Benjamin told Lucas.

"And Ben takes less time and effort." Lucas shot back. "Now tell me how to get back home."

Benjamin seemed to consider Lucas' words for a moment, mumbling to himself about decreased time and increased efficiency. Finally he looked back towards the group. "You make a good point." he told them. "You may call me Ben."

Any retort from Lucas was forestalled by the sound of Richard laughing. "You're fucking kidding me!" he exclaimed. "You randomly appear in front of us in some crazy robe and then tell us we can call you 'Ben.' Who the fuck do you think you are? Obi-wan Kenobi?"

"Who?" Benjamin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Obi-wan…" Jack mused, "I like it. That's your new name." he told Benjamin. "From now on you're Obi-wan."

"What?" Ben demanded.

"I see no problem with it." Lucas stated. "So care to answer my question?"

"Yeah Obi-wan, how do we get home?" Melissa asked.

"I'm sure you've already figured that out yourselves." Benjamin told them. "You need to defeat the forces of evil before you can return home."

"You know, we're really not the hero type?" Carlos told Benjamin.

"I know." Benjamin said bitterly. "And that's something we'll all just have to live with."

"What happened to the others?" Melissa asked. "The other digidestined from four years ago?"

"Politics," Benjamin told them, "they work under a different person in a different part of the Digital World. Do you have any other questions?"

"Yeah," Lucas replied, "where can we find the next big evil digimon we need to destroy? Tell me quickly because I'm in a hurry to get back."

"You wouldn't stand a chance against your next foe, he's far too powerful." Benjamin announced.

"We defeated Clockmon." Richard pointed out.

"You mean she and her partner defeated Clockmon." Benjamin stated gesturing towards Melissa. "The enemies you will face from here on are going to be on a whole different level. As you are now there is no hope in defeating them."

"Then what the hell do you suppose we should do hombre?" Carlos snapped.

"I was getting there." Benjamin said irritably. "There are two things you will each need before you are powerful enough to defeat the darkness here. The first is what's known as a 'Tag." An image of a small necklace appeared next to Benjamin. "These are required to find and access the power of the second item, and there should be five hidden beneath this rubble for you."

"The second item you will need is a Crest." At these words five symbols appeared around Benjamin: a dark blue waxing crescent moon or a large C with a four pointed star within it, a dark red circle with an S shape cut into it form the right and a diamond above and below the circle, a red-orange circle with eight star like points around it and a design within the circle echoing the outside, a golden circle with a trio of lines dividing the interior into pieces and a pair of what appeared to be right triangles extending from the sides of the circle like a pair of wings, finally there was what appeared to be a dark green block figure with squinty eyes and a long nose and ears holding a spear. "Respect, Confidence, Defiance, Responsibility, and Luck." Benjamin listed pointing to each one in turn. "I'm afraid, however, that I can't tell you where all of your Crests are," Benjamin explained, "nor which Crest is whose."

"Any other pearls of wisdom?" Lucas asked.

"Yes," Benjamin replied, "the way ahead is going to be hard, make sure you find the crests as soon as possible. I'll attempt to join you a quickly as I can."

"Yeah, thanks." Richard said sarcastically.

"So long Obi-wan." Jack remarked as the projector shut down.

Following the conversation with Benjamin Lucas had immediately performed a short visual sweep of the area before ordering them to get some sleep. And it was an order, not a request. And order or not Jack and Melissa weren't going to sleep.

"So what do you think of our randomly appearing Jedi friend?" Jack asked.

"He has no desire to help us." Melissa replied. "It seems like he's being told to do it by someone else."

"He certainly wasn't very enthusiastic." Jack agreed.

"So which crest do you think is yours?" Melissa asked.

"Dunno, give me a second." Jack said. He thought silently for a few moments before beginning again, "You're definitely Confidence contrary wench that you are, Lucas has Defiance covered, Carlos is the closest we seem to have to a respectful person around here so he takes Respect, Richard has to have Luck to have survived this long, and I guess that leaves Responsibility for me. Oh joy."

"Hey, how about you two stop talking about me behind my back and help me find those Tags?" Richard asked sticking his head between them.

With a few grumbles both Melissa and Jack got up to look through the rubble around the projector. Jack rolled his eyes when he noticed Richard choose to begin looking around behind Melissa after the girl had bent down to begin sifting through the rubble. It would be just their luck if they didn't find these things because of a move like that.

They searched for fifteen minutes without any success, Richard continually maneuvering so that he was behind Melissa. Finally Melissa jumped to her feet holding up a wooden box with golden fittings announcing that she had found them.

Jack grinned smugly as Richard could only stand and stutter, "H-how, but, where, I was just, how?"

Since he had kept behind her the entire time Melissa hadn't known that Richard had just checked the area she had found the box in. Twice. "You're looking at the Easter egg hunting champion, four years in a row." she declared gleefully holding the box in the air.

"So what's in it?" Jack asked while Richard struggled to regain control of his train of thought.

"Let's see." Melissa said bringing the box back down and taking the top off. "It looks like a bunch of necklaces." she said lifting one of the aforementioned items out of the box and watched its golden surface sparkle in the sunlight before slipping it over her head. "Not the best looking piece of jewelry I've ever worn." she remarked as she passed the box over to Jack.

"What's this little area here for?" Jack wondered pointing to a little clear rectangle in the center of the Tag he had fished out before putting it on and passing the box to Richard.

"Maybe the crests go in there or something." Richard hypothesized as he eagerly grabbed his own Tag from the box, leaving only a pair of them left.

"Hey Richard," Jack said slyly, the redhead turned to look at him, "since you already have the box, why don't you give Carlos and Lucas theirs?"

"Why don't you do it?" Richard snapped back at him.

"Because you're holding the box." Jack said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Richard never got to reply because as soon as he opened his mouth Jack let out a long snoring sound. A glance over at Melissa yielded the same sound before Richard could even open his mouth.

Muttering angrily to himself Richard stomped over to a patch of ground that had been cleared up earlier and curled up on the ground, the box clutched protectively against his stomach; he could give the other two their Tags when they woke up. As he shifted around to get comfortable and get some sleep he was all too aware that Sunglasses was sleeping next to the girl. It was a thought that didn't go over well at all with him.

Hmm, appears I'm only about a month late. I blame exams. Also, I noticed that the spacing I was using to separate different portions of the chapter weren't showing up, so whole new spacing time; we'll see how it turns out. In any case this is going to turn out to be a pretty important chapter throughout the whole saga; so pay attention! Have fun.


	14. In Defiance of the Great River

Chapter 14: In Defiance of the Great River

They left at the crack of four in the afternoon, Lucas and Carlos quite pleased with their new Tags. Their course was simple to deduce: a straight walk up river to the factories whose presence was constantly denoted by a black cloud of smoke in the sky.

Lucas, as ever, was in the lead striding confidently onward with Lopmon at his heels. Carlos and Mushroomon came next walking side by side as Carlos fiddled with his Tag. Jack and Melissa were behind them bickering quietly about some slight difference in the way the fish might have been cooked that morning. Bonemon was walking between and slightly behind them and Demi was happily perched on Melissa's head. Behind them all came Richard and Betamon.

"Calm down." Betamon told Richard quietly noticing the look Richard was directing at Jack's back. "It's not like anything's going to happen between the two of them."

"Betamon," Richard said, "shut up. I know he's too much of an asshole to have a chance, but he's getting in my way."

"Then go up there and join the conversation." Betamon offered.

"That's not a conversation, it's an argument." Richard clarified. "And as long as Sunglasses is over there chatting her up it'll be obvious what I'm doing."

"And if he's not there it won't be?" Betamon questioned.

"If he's not there it won't have a chance of blowing up on my face and he'll look even worse if he butts in." Richard said angrily.

"You're such a wimp." Betamon told his partner.

"It is quite possible to pull someone's spine out through their ribs." Jack informed Melissa from ahead in the line. "Difficult, but possible."

"That's beside the point." Melissa argued back. "He was a robot; he didn't actually have a spine or any ribs."

"I'm sure he had some sort of similar body parts we could have used." Jack supplied.

"Even so your threat is moot. You couldn't have done anything with his spine or ribs." Melissa said in triumph.

"If you don't shut up I'll prove Jack's spine through ribs point." Lucas growled back at Melissa angrily cutting her celebration short. "Now, I want to head down through the canyon ahead. The sides look dangerous and exposed and I don't want to take any chances. Anyone have any brilliant objections?"

"Looks steep." Richard interjected looking ahead.

"Suck it up." Betamon advised.

"The only problem I can see here," Carlos said, "is that if we're seen we can't actually do anything about it; we have nowhere to run."

"Whereas if we're up top we're more likely to be seen even though we have room to run." Demi noted.

"Let's just take the canyon already." Jack grouched. "We're going to follow Lucas through there anyway."

"Stop being such a kiss ass." Richard advised as they began to descend. Behind his sunglasses Jack rolled his eyes.

"I see that the river runs through here too." Mushroomon remarked once they reached the bottom.

"Just walk around it." Carlos advised taking a small well worn path along the side of the river.

"You wanted to go through the canyon so you could be sure to keep following the river didn't you?" Demi asked.

"Hardly." Lucas told the bat digimon, "I'm from a city, I like having my view of the sky blocked off."

"Yup, buildings and smog, we don't like to see the sky." Lopmon put in using a sing song voice.

"Of course," Carlos agreed skeptically, "I always feel better when surrounded by walls."

"Carlos, shut up." Lucas told the soccer player.

"Hey," Melissa spoke up breaking into the discussion, "do you smell something?"

"People sweat," Jack informed her, "especially guys."

"I know sweat." Melissa told him. "This isn't sweat. It smells like chemicals, and sewage, and sludge."

"It's the river." Betamon told them.

"Well it's getting worse." Melissa complained.

"You don't smell through your mouth." Jack advised her.

"Jack, shut up. You're not helping." Melissa snapped back at him.

"Just quit complaining already." Richard told them. "This is only going to take longer if I have to put up with you two arguing the whole way."

"Hey," Mushroomon spoke up, "why is the path starting to get wet?" The rest of the party looked around themselves. Sure enough the path around them was under a slight film of the dark murky water.

"The river's just shallower here." Carlos said brushing it off.

"There wasn't any water here a little bit ago." Mushroomon argued.

"Hold on." Carlos mentioned, "I thought I just heard something." They all paused for a moment and the sound of crashing water reached them.

"It's flooding!" Richard screamed running for the side of the canyon. The others followed a fraction of a second later.

A few yards up the side of the canyon walls there were a number of caves bored into the rock face, and it was into one of these that the digidestined and their partners fled. As they all entered the cave those in the back of the group caught a glimpse of a wall of black water rushing down the canyon at them.

"Are we high enough up?" Lucas asked while peering ahead into the darkness in an attempt to see the end of the cave.

Carlos stopped and listened for a moment before shaking his head. "Hardly, it's slowed down a bit but it's still coming. Sooner or later it'll reach us up here too.

"Hey guys," Jack began, "an idea just hit me. What if these caves are actually used for drainage?"

Richard ran his hand along the smooth cave wall and cursed. "The ground is wet." he announced looking down.

"Should we try for a higher cave?" Melissa suggested.

"Not if there might be another Coelamon." Demi told her.

"We can't climb much higher anyway before the water catches up." Lucas noted. "Let's try to outrun it down the cave Lopmon, if it is for drainage it'll come out somewhere." With that he began to walk off down the cave.

"What about us?" Melissa demanded before he had gone far.

Lucas glanced over his shoulder at her. "I don't much care." he told her, "But you'll probably wind up following me anyway."

Mushroomon took a quick look out at the entrance before speaking, "Let's go Carlos, we don't have much time."

"Point taken." Carlos told his partner. "Let's catch up. The rest of you, come on." With that he began walking swiftly off after Lucas. The others followed, including a huffy Melissa. The water flowed after them.

(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)

"Was this really a good idea?" Jack asked as he waded through the now ankle deep water. Were he still Skullmon, Jack was sure, Bonemon would be having the time of his life. Instead the much quieter and more reserved skeleton plodded along beside him.

"It was an idea." Carlos told him. "Which was more then you had at the time." Hey had nearly caught up to Lucas who was still hiking along ahead, Lopmon dogging his heels.

"Climbing the walls wouldn't have worked." Melissa informed Jack, her perspective miraculously changed by the prospect of the argument. "The only reason we're still mostly dry is because this tunnel slopes upwards."

"As long as we can get out at some point." Jack responded, mostly, failing to rise to the bait for once.

"Of course we'll get out." Lucas told them. "I have no intention of dying here."

"I feel so much safer now." Richard responded sarcastically. Despite his defiant and assured demeanor he was clutching his digivice tightly and glancing down at the ground frequently.

There was a loud gurgle from behind them and the depth of the water jumped considerably. Richard yelped as he jumped forward away from the water that was reaching mid-calf. "Let's just hurry up and leave!" he shouted.

"We need to move faster." Lucas told them from up ahead as he picked up his pace. The increase in water had begun to catch up with him as well. With the sound of another large gurgle behind them they started off on a quicker pace themselves.

By the time they reached Lucas the water had reached their knees and the going was growing slower by the second. Lucas however had come to a stop in front of a straight piece of solid rock.

They almost missed him as they arrived because he had shut off his digivice, killing any of the light it had been emitting. After a few moments of staring at the wall in front of them the others shut off their own lights one by one. In the complete darkness it was easier to pretend they hadn't reached the end.

And then a soft red-orange glow cast a slight illumination around them. Hesitantly Melissa drew her Tag from beneath her shirt bathing the area in an eerie red-orange glow. Slowly the wall in front of them began to glow as well, the symbol of an eight pointed star within an eight pointed star revealing itself. Then the wall began to shrink until it was only a small rectangle that inserted itself smoothly into the space in Melissa's Tag.

And then the rush of mid-thigh deep water pulled them all down a hillside in a flurry of coughing and limbs.

(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)

Um, yeah, three whole months huh. I won't lie winter term killed me, almost literally. Weekly updates should begin again now though. I hope. In any cases next chapter will likely have a lot to do with things like family, and sunglasses, and boyfriends.


	15. A Cabin in the Woods

Chapter 15: A Cabin in the Woods

Rushing water was the one thing in their ears as the digidestined were swept away by the torrent of water emptying out of the tunnel. At least one person screamed before they were swept under in a press of tumbling bodies and flailing limbs that led them downhill to the shore of a nearly dried up old pond.

Lucas was the first to push himself to his feet and shook his head in the same manner as a dog flinging droplets of water all around him. Carefully he walked over to where Lopmon lay and roused the small digimon. Lopmon gazed at him with one beady eye for a moment before attempting to curl up and go to sleep. A quick tap to the side of the head dissuaded the rabbit from its attempts and it staggered after Lucas as he moved towards Carlos.

A quick shake got the soccer player to push himself off the ground and try to wring some of the dirty water out of his shirt, but to no avail. Around them the others were slowly picking themselves up off the ground.

Demi landed softly on Melissa's head. He was the only one who hadn't been carried away by the water having taken flight, and as a consequence he was also the only one who could claim to be dry. "Get off me." Melissa grouched as she swatted the bat digimon off her head. "I'm completely fucking soaked." She complained angrily pulling at her shirt.

"Guess we should get these clothes off and try to dry them out." Richard said from behind her with a perverted smirk she couldn't see. She knew the tone though and was just turning to deal with Richard when she caught sight of Jack beating her to it.

Richard, however, stepped neatly around Jack's punch and aimed a kick at his attacker's midsection. Jack twisted sideways allowing the kick to pass by and yanked Richard's leg forward. As Richard was pulled off balance he used his remaining foot to push off from the ground and hit Jack with a flying tackle.

When they hit the ground Richard was on top of the pile. He wasted no time bringing his fist up to smash Jack in the face. At the same time Jack's hand shot out and grabbed Richard's throat. Richard's blow never landed and Jack's fingers never tightened, because the next thing they knew Lucas had a hold on Richard's arm and his switchblade to Jack's own throat.

"Stop acting like children." he ordered them before suddenly yanking Richard out of Jack's grasp. "Now get up and move."

Richard pushed himself to his feet as he rubbed his neck. "Next time, you're dead Sunglasses." he told Jack as he shot the other a glare.

"I don't die easily." Jack informed him as he too regained his feet, all the while sending back a glare of equal intensity.

"Boys." Melissa sighed to herself as she walked over to join Lucas and Carlos, arms crossed covering her chest. From above her, and just out her range, Demi continued to chuckle at her predicament.

"Are we still going to head towards those factories?" Carlos asked while glancing at the sky to orient himself with the smoke.

"And why would we stop?" Lucas asked him.

"Well look around," Carlos suggested, "the ground around here isn't covered in metal like further down stream. Sure enough the area they were in was free from the metallic ground covering they had encountered earlier. All around them were grass, and trees, and leaves.

"It's because they're using it for basic resources." Jack supplied pointing to a large swath of tree stumps on the other side of the lake. "This area's being deforested to help feed the factories."

"You sound like a spokesman for Greenpeace." Melissa informed him. "There are so many things those trees could have been used for, like houses, and fences, or to keep digimon warm in the winter."

"Greenpeace may have its fair share of lunatics and idiots," Richard remarked, "but the last time I checked it was a one or the other thing."

"When was this?" Melissa taunted, "The last time they turned you down?" She was the one that gave Jack a hard time, not Richard, and she wasn't about to let him jump in on her territory.

"He couldn't join Greenpeace." Jack informed her, "He's been on their bad side since he broke that branch falling out of the ugly tree." He shrugged, "Of course, I guess that's better than the four I took out on my down."

"You know, you're actually pretty good looking." Carlos informed Jack, "I bet you'd be pretty popular if you just took off the-"

"No." Jack told him, cutting Carlos off, all humor had drained from his voice. "They don't come off."

"If you're all done flirting with each other I'd like to get back on our way." Lucas said sarcastically. Betamon and Bonemon joined Lopmon and Demi in laughing at their partners; Mushroomon didn't seem to see any humor in the situation. "Quit laughing like idiots and get moving." Lucas admonished the digimon before stalking off through the tree stumps. The others followed along after him, as always.

Lucas knew it was coming long before it did. He knew that it would come from Melissa, and that it would happen as soon as the sun was low enough. And when he had first sighted the form of that lone cabin Lucas knew it was coming any moment.

"I'm tired." Melissa whined loudly from behind him. "It's getting dark out; we should find somewhere to rest."

Lucas decided to hope she hadn't seen the cabin yet. "There's nowhere to stay," he told her, "and it's safer if we keep moving and not sleep in the open."

"There's a cabin right over there." Melissa told him pointing in the direction of the aforementioned cabin. "I know you know it's there. So let's go spend the night."

Lucas shot her a look with narrowed eyes. "You won't shut up if we don't stop will you?" he asked.

Melissa smirked, "Now you're getting the idea." She rested one hand on her hip, "So, can we stop yet?"

Lucas adjusted his course so that it would take him towards the cabin. "If you'll stop whining we can stop."

Melissa gave him a little smile, "I'll stop whining." she promised him. True to her word she remained quiet as they approached the cabin. "It's locked." she said in disappointment upon attempting to open the door.

"Locks are just an excuse for giving up." Lucas informed her giving the door a solid kick, it shuddered but held. "Carlos, get over here." Lucas said while looking at the door.

"What do you want me to do?" Carlos asked.

"You're a soccer player, right, so you can kick pretty hard?" Carlos nodded. "Give the door a stomp kick right there," Lucas told him pointing to a space just above the handle, "as hard as you can."

Carlos brought his leg up and planted a powerful kick where Lucas had indicated. The door held for a moment and then swung open sending part of a latch skittering off across the floor.

"Congratulations, you've just kicked your first door in." Lucas commented wryly before entering the cabin. The interior of the building was relatively barren containing only an old rug and a pair of chairs, and an empty second room with its door open.

"Homely." Richard said in summation as he pushed his way inside. "It looks like a wonderful place to stay."

"Richard shut up." Jack said as he too entered. "It's better than a rock."

Melissa didn't say anything as she entered. She just burst past the others, grabbed the rug, gave it a few quick shakes, and sped into the other room. "Mine." she said territorially, slamming the door just as Demi joined her.

Somehow Carlos wound up being the last one in, following even the other digimon. Lucas and Jack were by then seated on the floor, Jack lying where the rug had been and Lucas with his back against the nearest wall. Richard was using one of the chairs.

"What now?" Carlos asked as he flopped down into the remaining chair.

"You can go to sleep." Lucas told him, "I'll take the first watch."

"I really don't think any of us are all that tired." Richard mentioned. "We're only here because she wanted to stop."

The opening and closing of the door marked Melissa's return to the room, Demi perched upon her shoulder. "You certainly look happy." Carlos commented as she took a seat beside him.

"I am," she replied cheerfully, "I finally get to sleep inside, without a bunch of sweaty boys around me."

"You're hardly a rose garden yourself." Lucas informed her. Melissa calmly raised her hand and flipped him off, her smile never faltering.

The silence descended again for a few minutes before Melissa decided to break it. "Hey," she began, "how about we play a game? Like truth or truth, or something?"

"Truth or truth?" Jack asked.

Melissa rolled her eyes, "There's no way I'm playing a game with dares while surrounded by four horny guys." She turned to Carlos, "So, can you speak Spanish?" she asked.

"Si, yo hablo Español muy bien." Carlos told her with a smile.

Melissa looked at him blankly. "I can't speak any Spanish." she admitted.

Carlos chuckled, as was everyone else, "Not even 'crappy public school Spanish,' or 'order from Taco Bell Spanish?"

"I can speak German." Melissa told him.

"I'm fluent in Spanish," Carlos told her, "it was my first language. My turn?" he asked, Melissa nodded. "Okay then," he turned toward Richard, "Richard, T or A?" Melissa groaned.

"Both." Richard said with almost no consideration.

"Choose one."

"Well then, I guess you can't do much better than a nice pair of perky tits." Richard decided. "Hey Lucas, how many gang tattoos do you have?" he asked.

"Tattoos are for idiots and masochists." Lucas informed Richard. "I don't have any. Carlos, what position do you play?"

"Any one they want me to." Carlos replied with a smirk. "I prefer striker though." He turned his attention to Jack, "Hey Jack, what type of poems and stuff do you write?"

Jack shrugged, "Sad stuff," he admitted, "war, ghosts, fighting and dying; nothing too special. Melissa," he smirked, "what's your boyfriend's name?"

Melissa raised an eyebrow at the question. "Waste of a question, his name is Mark." She turned towards Richard, but then spun back to Jack, "Why do you always wear the sunglasses?" she asked.

"I already answered that question." Jack told her.

"That doesn't matter." Melissa replied, "You still have to answer the question, it's part of the game. Consider it a wasted question if you want." she suggested.

Jack shrugged again, "I wear them because it's better for everyone if I do." he answered.

"That's not a good enough answer." Melissa told him.

"Since when?" Jack demanded.

"My game, my rules." Melissa informed him.

"You're just pissed that I found a way to work around your question." Jack accused.

"Why do you always have to be such an asshole?" Melissa shouted at him as she leapt to her feet.

"Hey!" Jack yelled back getting to his own feet, "It's my turn to ask a question, and I want to know why you're always such a bitch!" Melissa stood for a moment shaking a little in anger before turning and stomping away. Jack followed her, barely making it into the room before the door slammed shut.

Carlos grabbed Richard by his collar as he attempted to follow. "Let them work it out on their own." he advised. "You don't want to be in there." his advice was punctuated by the sound of something hitting to door.

(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)

"What the hell are you doing here?" Melissa hissed at Jack when she turned to find him in the room. "This is my room." she continued shoving him into the door.

"Will you shut up and stop acting like a child." Jack told her. He pushed off the door stood over her glaring downward.

Melissa refused to be intimidated. "Don't get me started on acting childish." she said poking him in the chest. "You have me beaten by a long shot."

"You're nothing but a stubborn spoiled little girl." Jack accused pushing the finger away.

"And you're some stupid kid that thinks it's cool to write shitty poems about how sad your life is and cutting yourself." Melissa returned her finger finding its way into Jack's face.

"You haven't liked me since the moment we met." Jack told her, "What the hell did I ever do to piss you off?"

"Do you want a list?" Melissa asked him sarcastically. She crossed her arms, "Well you can have one anyway. You woke me up, called me an idiot, made a joke out of the fact that someone put a hole in my mouth; which I still haven't figured out," she began ticking things off on her fingers, "you never use my name, you make fun of every little thing I do, you've called me a bitch more times than I can remember, you even-"

Her arguments were cut off as Jack pulled her lips to his in a kiss. They stayed like that for a few moments until Melissa pushed away. "What was that?" she spluttered, "Where the hell did that come from."

Jack gave a little shrug. "I had to shut you up somehow," he admitted, "and it felt like a good idea."

Melissa grimaced, "It did feel pretty good." she allowed.

"You're a good kisser." Jack complimented, "A really good kisser."

"Don't flatter me." she ordered drawing closer.

"I wasn't flattering you." he mentioned further closing the gap.

Their lips met again, and stayed together until they broke for air. A few short gasps later they had once again attached themselves to each other until a tongue, neither was quite sure whose, started wiggling around. Melissa broke away first, "I can't be doing this." she repeated, "I can't be doing this. I have a boyfriend."

"That was, that shouldn't have happened." Jack said holding his head in his hand and running his fingers through his hair. "Let's just forget all about that."

"Done." Melissa told him. "I'm going to sleep now. You can stay in here as long as you stay off my blanketress."

"Blanketress?" Jack questioned.

Melissa nudged the rug with her foot. "It's a blanket and a mattress," she explained, "thus blanketress."

"I see." Jack mentioned. "Why do you want to know about my eyes so much?" he asked.

Melissa shrugged, "I've never seen them, I'm curious. You do know that the whole mysterious stranger act piques curiosity in addition to making you look like a complete asshole." There was a clunk on the rug and she looked down to find Jack's glasses. "Don't do that if you don't want to." she said picking the glasses up and handing them back to him with her eyes closed and head averted.

Jack took them back. "You can look if you want to." he offered, "It's okay with me."

Melissa opened her eyes and looked up at Jack. "You don't have any scars." she remarked. He really didn't have any scars, or dopey crossed eyes or the like, but his eyes were themselves weird. Melissa realized she couldn't tell what color they were, they seemed to shift before her eyes and every time she tried to focus on a color it changed. They were quite creepy she decided, creepy and completely captivating. "They're certainly interesting." she mentioned.

"You don't have to lie." Jack said as he slipped the glasses back on, "I know they're disturbing. And I recall saying 'or something' not that I had scars."

"I don't think they're that disturbing." Melissa told him half lying. "And they really are interesting. What's your eye color though?" she asked.

Jack shrugged, "No idea." he admitted. "My birth certificate just has a question mark on it. So do I get to ask you a question now?"

Melissa rolled her eyes, "Mark's twice the kisser you are." she told him, "And he's far better looking, smarter, more athletic, he can touch his nose and chin with his tongue and all that entails, and his cock is twice the size yours will ever be."

"And you call Richard a pervert." Jack commented. "I actually wanted to know your last name."

"W, what's that have to do with anything?" Melissa asked suddenly defensive.

"Idle curiosity." Jack told her, "You never mentioned your last name when we all introduced ourselves."

"Oh come on," Melissa stalled, "it's not like my last name will actually mean anything."

"It's obviously important if you're trying so hard to hide it." Melissa cursed under her breath. "Would you like to know the real reason why I want to know?" Jack asked her, Melissa nodded. "You're not like us." Jack started, "Two east coast, two west coast, one from Chicago. You're the only one who speaks no Spanish. You hate being called Princess," Melissa grimaced at the name, "just like that." Jack pointed out, "You're always trying to be normal and equal, to the point of flipping out when someone does something for you. I'm guess that back home you really are a spoiled rich girl."

"So what difference will my name make." She replied confirming his guesses.

"Like I said idle curiosity." Jack told her. "I'd like to know if I'm addressing a Gates, or a Trump, or a Hefner, or a…"

"Or a Drake?" Melissa laughed.

Jack laughed along, "Or a Drake..." He stopped abruptly a moment later, "You aren't joking are you?" he asked. Melissa shook her head and looked at the ground with a sad expression on her face. "Like _the_ Drakes?" Jack queried.

Melissa sighed and prepared to bite the bullet. Everyone knew the Drakes; they were old money, and had their hands in everything someone could make money from. It was said that sooner or later everyone had something to do with them. It was exactly what she hadn't wanted people to know about her, and of course he dragged it up. "The heiress." she admitted without looking up.

Jack remained silent for few moments, "Fuck." he decided, "Fuck. Fuck." Melissa's face darkened and she slowly began to inch away. Jack began to chuckle and shake his head, "Doesn't matter." he told her, "You're still you, same old contrary wench you were five minutes ago."

"You're not going to…?" Melissa asked.

"They didn't see my eyes, did they?" Jack replied.

Melissa smiled, "Thanks, you argumentative bastard."

"None needed." Jack assured her. "Goodnight and have fun in your 'blanketress.'" he told her.

"Actually it's a pillanketress." Melissa informed him, "I'm using it as a pillow tonight too."

(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)(H)

"What are they doing in there?" Richard wondered looking towards the door. Carlos shrugged, and Lucas and the digimon ignored him. "Forget it." Richard declared, "If they're not coming out for dinner I'll eat Melissa's fish."

"You can have Jack's." Lucas said as he tossed Richard the aforementioned item. Richard looked down at it distastefully as Lucas started in on the other fish.


End file.
